DE  CALIF.  IIBRAH7,  T»S 


The  Further  Evolution  of  Man 


The  Further 

Evolution  of  Man 

A  Study  from  Observed  Phenomena 


By 

W.  Hall  Calvert,  M.D. 


NEW  YORK         CHICAGO          TORONTO 

Fleming   H.    Revell   Company 

LONDON    AND    EDINBURGH 


TO 

MY  WIFE 


2128745 


Preface 

I  WISH  to  record  that  the  thoughts  and  ideas  ex- 
pressed in  this  work  owe  their  origin  largely  to 
the  stimulation  and  encouragement  received  through 
association  with  the  fine  intellectual  vigour  and  acumen 
of  the  minds  of  the  Shakespeare  Club  of  Melrose  (where 
I  practised  for  many  years  the  profession  of  medicine) 
from  the  year  of  its  origin  in  1884-85  until  I  ceased 
active  membership  in  1912.  It  is  not  intended  to 
convey  the  impression  that  all  the  members  did  or 
do  agree  with  the  general  trend  of  this  book,  or  with 
individual  expressions  of  opinion  contained  in  it.  What 
I  do  wish  to  convey  is  that  but  for  association  with 
such  minds  it  would  never  have  been  possible  for 
me  to  produce  this  volume,  and  that  if  there  is 
any  merit  in  it  I  desire  to  express  my  grateful  thanks 
to  one  and  all  of  the  members  past  and  present. 
I  desire  to  thank  especially  the  Rev.  John  L.  King, 
M.A.,  for  a  long  time  the  able  Secretary,  for  his  views 
on  "  good  and  evil,"  "  punishment,"  and  "  im- 
prisonment." 

My  indebtedness  to  Paulin  is  apparent  throughout. 
His    masterly  attack   on    the  Darwinian   hypothesis 

7 


8  Preface 

provided  the  basis  of  the  argument.     Chapters  III 
and  V  may  be  said  to  be  wholly  his.1 


W.  HALL  CALVERT,  M.D. 


"THE  LAURELS," 
MELROSE. 


1  "No  Struggle  for   Existence;    No    Natural   Selection."      George 
Paulin.     Edinburgh,  T.  T.  Clark,  1908. 


Contents 


CHAPTER  FACE 

I.    INTRODUCTION  .          .11 


II.  DARWINISM     .          .          .          .  .  -19 

III.  THE  CANNIBAL  HABIT  IN  THE  MALE  .  .      31 

IV.  "NATURAL  SELECTION"        .          .  .  -43 
V.  MALTHUSIANISM  AND  THE  LAW  OF  POPULATION    .     69 

VI.  HEREDITY  AND  ENVIRONMENT       .  .  .    101 

VII.  THE  LESSON  OF  HISTORY     .          .  .  .127 

VIII.  THE  SPIRITUAL  EVOLUTION  OF  SOCIETY  .  -151 

IX.  THE  IDEAL  STATE     .          .          .  .  .210 

X.  THE  FINAL  GOAL      .  .          .  .  .    315 

INDEX   .  .           .          .          .  .  .321 


The  Further  Evolution  of  Man  : 

A   Study  from   Observed    Phenomena 

Chapter  I 
Introduction 

BEING  a  disciple  of  ^Esculapius,  my  thoughts 
have  been  constantly  directed  towards  such 
matters  as  the  evolutionary  process  in  nature,  the 
science  of  biology,  the  laws  which  regulate  the  relation- 
ship of  the  various  species,  and  the  origin  and  destiny 
of  Man. 

After  much  study  and  thought  I  have  been  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  like 
many  other  creeds  of  science  which  have  held  the 
minds  of  men  for  generations,  can  remain  an  article 
of  faith  no  longer,  and  must  wane  before  the  search- 
light of  truth.  There  are  many  arguments  and  dis- 
coveries which  have  told  against  it,  and  which  will  be 
examined  in  detail ;  but  the  most  potent  is  the  discovery 
by  Paulin  of  the  applicability  of  the  law  of  the  "  can- 
nibal habit  in  the  male  "  to  all  prolific  species  of 
carnivora  and  herbivora,  and  his  complete  exposure 
of  the  fallacy  of  the  doctrine  of  Malthus,  which  Darwin 
homologated,  and  said  "  applied  with  manifold  force 
to  the  whole  animal  and  vegetable  kingdom." 

ii 


1 2  Introduction 

If  the  former  is  true,  there  can  be  no  "  survival  of 
the  fittest,"  depending  upon  a  "  struggle  for  exist- 
ence "  ;  natural  selection  no  longer  operates  as  a  law 
of  nature ;  and  its  inapplicability  to  the  "  genus  homo 
sapiens  "  becomes  evident.  Moreover,  the  downfall  of 
the  Malthusian  doctrine  has  shaken  Darwinism  to  its 
foundations,  and  we  are  assured  that  its  collapse  is 
certain  and  cannot  be  long  delayed. 

Darwin  attempts  no  explanation  of  how  life  origi- 
nated on  the  globe ;  he  does  not  boldly  say,  like 
Haeckel,  that  certain  atoms  of  carbon,  hydrogen, 
oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  under  the  influence  of  sunlight, 
combined  fortuitously  to  form  living  protoplasm. 
As  he  could  not  account  for  it,  he  ought  logically  to 
have  admitted  a  special  creative  act  in  order  to  explain 
the  origin  of  life.  Pasteur's  law  of  "  omne  vivum  ex 
vivo"  holds  the  field.  As  Professor  Bergson  says: 
"  chemical  synthesis  has  never  succeeded  in  recon- 
structing anything  but  the  waste  products  of  vital 
activity."  As  living  protoplasm  has  never  been 
produced  from  its  organic  elements,  Darwin  was  bound 
to  admit  that  life  could  not  exist  without  a  special 
creative  act.  The  more  particularly  do  we  realise  this 
since  Pasteur's  demonstration  that  life  does  not  exist 
except  from  pre-existing  life.  It  may  be  said  that 
Darwin  should  not  be  asked  to  say  how  life  originated. 
All  he  knew  was  that  life  began  on  the  earth  some 
time,  and  he  had  only  to  deal  with  living  matter  as  he 
found  it.  But  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that,  without 
demonstration  of  any  kind,  he  assumes  the  evolution 
of  man  upwards  through  all  the  intermediate  forms 
directly  from  the  primeval  protoplasmic  unit  or  cell 
by  the  operation  of  a  law  which  he  calls  natural 
selection.  We  hold  that  this  law  cannot  be  proved  to 
rest  on  established  and  observed  phenomena.  Surely 
if  he  is  allowed  this  much  of  a  hypothesis,  we  are 


Introduction  1 3 

entitled  to  ask  for  some  proof  of  the  primeval  origin 
in  the  form  of  this  protoplasmic  unit.  He  must 
satisfy  us  as  to  the  beginning ;  this  he  makes  no 
attempt  to  do  ;  he  assumes  the  Amoeba  without  any 
account  of  its  origin,  and  then  postulates  the  theory, 
that  by  means  of  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  natural  selection  produced  a 
graduated  scale  of  beings  which,  by  a  process  of  evolu- 
tion, gives  us  every  variety  of  species  from  the  one- 
celled  protozoon  up  to  "  the  beauty  of  the  world — the 
paragon  of  animals  " — the  supreme  and  complicated 
"  genus  homo  sapiens." 

In  regard  to  the  latter  we  can  look  forward  to  a 
brighter  outlook  once  we  discard  the  dread  influence 
of  Darwin  and  Malthus  upon  his  fate.  The  teaching 
of  the  former  meant  that  existence  for  him  must  ever 
mean  a  struggle,  constant  and  unvarying,  wearing  out 
his  "  little  life  "  in  toil  and  pain,  until  its  "  fitful  fever  " 
ends  in  death  ;  that  of  the  latter,  that  only  by  means 
of  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  and  "  all  causes, 
whether  of  a  moral  or  physical  nature,  which  tend  pre- 
maturely to  weaken  the  human  frame,"  can  the  popu- 
lation be  prevented  from  outrunning  the  means  of 
subsistence.  As  he  said,  it  would  be  difficult  to  name 
any  check  that  did  not  come  "  under  some  form  of  vice 
or  misery."  If  this  were  true,  woe  betide  the  fate  of 
man.  It  could  only  increase  his  misery  as  the  ages 
roll,  and  of  necessity  all  hope  of  a  brighter  and  happier 
future  would  have  to  be  abandoned.  Every  bene- 
factor of  the  race,  such  as  Lord  Lister,  "  the  great 
Life-Saver,"  as  he  has  been  so  appropriately  named, 
could  only  be  considered  a  traitor  to  humanity. 
No  doubt  Malthus  and  his  followers  would  so  con- 
sider him,  but  to-day  we  take  a  different  view. 
Lord  Rosebery  lately  delivered  an  oration  on  the 
science  and  art  of  medicine,  and  among  other  things 


14  Introduction 

is  reported  to  have  said  :  "  Let  them  take  the  great 
names  of  history — the  great  conquerors,  the  Caesars, 
the  Charlemagnes,  the  Napoleons,  the  Wellingtons — 
the  names  before  whom  they  all  bent  the  knee.  They, 
willingly  or  not,  unconsciously  or  not,  had  been  banes 
and  injuries  to  the  generations  in  which  they  lived. 
Let  them  take  one  single  name  from  their  profession, 
that  of  Lister,  and  balance  it  against  those  great 
historical  figures  who  had  devoted  their  lives  and 
energies  to  conquest  and  to  bloodshed.  Did  any 
intelligent  human  being  hesitate  to  which  side  of  the 
balance  the  universal  gratitude  of  mankind  was  due  ?  " 
In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to 
recall  the  fact  that  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  one  of  his  inspired 
moments,  looked  forward  with  prophetic  eye  to  the 
time  when  the  medical  man  would  be  the  prime  factor 
in  the  State. 

Believing  that  Darwinism,  Malthusianism,  and 
natural  selection— so  long  the  accepted  creeds  of 
science — have  been  weighed  in  the  balances  and  found 
wanting,  our  next  endeavour  was  to 'look  for  some  hope 
of  a  brighter  future  for  humanity,  and  this  we  found  in 
the  study  of  history,  which  revealed  a  spiritual  evolu- 
tion, of  slow  advance  certainly,  and  found  its  origin 
among  men,  with  the  advent  of  the  altruism  of  the 
teachings  of  Jesus. 

When  we  recall  the  words  of  Huxley,  probably  in 
himself  the  finest  combination  of  scientific  attain- 
ment, logical  faculty,  and  honesty  of  purpose,  the  world 
has  ever  known :  "I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  the 
opinion  that  if  there  is  no  hope  of  a  large  improve- 
ment of  the  condition  of  the  greater  part  of  the  human 
family  ;  if  it  is  true  that  the  increase  of  knowledge, 
the  winning  of  a  great  dominion  over  nature,  which  is 
its  consequence,  and  the  wealth  which  follows  upon 
that  dominion,  are  to  make  no  difference  in  the  extent 


Introduction  1 5 

and  intensity  of  want  with  its  concomitant  physical 
and  moral  degradation  among  the  masses  of  the  people, 
I  should  hail  the  advent  of  some  kindly  comet,  which 
would  sweep  the  whole  affair  away,  as  a  desirable 
consummation  "  ;  when  we  recall  these  words,  and 
realise  "  the  sorrow  and  the  sighing  of  the  world,"  it 
is  time  to  investigate  the  laws  which  are  said  to  allow 
of  no  escape  from  the  present  misery  and  to  test  their 
infallibility  or  otherwise. 

The  question  at  once  arises  :  "  Is  a  higher  evolution 
possible  to  man  ?  If  so,  how  is  it  to  be  obtained  ?  Is 
it  actually  in  process  now  ?  "  We  all  know  that  in  our 
Western  civilisation,  notwithstanding  the  awfulness  of 
the  condition  of  the  "  submerged  tenth,"  or,  as  we 
might  more  justly  say,  the  submerged  third,  a  social 
amelioration  is  going  on,  slow  it  is,  to  be  sure,  but 
it  is  there  ;  and  the  standard  of  living  is  rising  almost 
imperceptibly.  The  movement  in  this  direction  is  gain- 
ing strength,  and,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  we 
are  entitled  to  say,  will  gain  momentum  of  such  force 
that  ere  long  it  will  prove  irresistible. 

In  regard  to  the  evolution  of  man,  we  think  history 
teaches  that  physically  and  intellectually  he  cannot  be 
said  to  have  reached  a  higher  development  than  he 
had  attained  between  two  and  three  thousand  years 
ago,  during  the  period  of  the  great  Greek  civilisation 
when  Plato,  Socrates,  Sophocles,  Phidias,  and  many 
other  great -names  too  numerous  to  mention,  enriched 
that  marvellous  age.  If  that  is  so,  is  there  any  further 
form  of  evolution  possible  ?  We  are  of  opinion  that 
Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd,  in  his  book  "  Social  Evolution," 
has  proved  that  since  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era 
a  process  of  evolution  has  been  going  on  which  has 
moulded  the  history  of  our  Western  civilisation,  and 
is  now,  more  markedly  than  ever  before,  influencing  the 
social  welfare  of  humanity.  In  other  words,  a  spiritual 


1 6  Introduction 

evolution  is  now  operating,  affecting  not  only  the 
relationship  of  man  to  man,  but  directing  the  State  in 
the  devising  of  measures  for  the  betterment  of  society, 
and  this  in  spite  of  man's  primeval  instinct  of  self- 
preservation,  which  he  has  understood  hitherto  was 
the  only  operating  force,  the  only  motive  which 
weighed  in  men's  minds,  under  the  teaching  of  the  laws 
of  Darwin  and  Malthus.  Since  men's  minds  have 
become  permeated  by  the  altruism  of  Christianity,  the 
whole  history  of  legislation,  more  particularly  recently, 
in  this  our  Western  civilisation,  has  demonstrated  the 
gradual  negation  of  this  prime  motive. 

We  have  then  every  reason  to  believe  that  this 
altruistic  spirit — this  spiritual  evolution — will  increase 
with  overwhelming  force  as  time  goes  on,  and  must, 
by  means  of  a  gradual  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  people,  more  particularly  the  poor  and  needy, 
end  in  the  "  ideal  state,"  where  the  aim  and  the  reward 
of  each  will  be  to  work  for  all  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
and  at  the  same  time  never  forgetting  the  interests  of 
the  generations  which  are  to  follow.  A  most  necessary 
part  of  this  social  betterment  of  the  race  will  be  the 
security  for  every  member  of  the  State  of  sufficient 
leisure  in  which  he  may  cultivate  to  the  highest  his 
physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  development. 

We  hold  that  it  must  be  evident  that  this  "  ideal 
state  "  is  impossible  without  the  negation  of  individual 
wealth  or  property,  and  inherent  in  this  is  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  gold  standard.  That  this  is  capable  of 
accomplishment  is  evident  from  the  self-abnegation  of 
many  men  of  "  great  possessions,"  in  helping  the  cause 
of  the  poor,  the  wretched,  the  overwrought,  and  the 
overstrained  with  the  "  weary  bitterness  of  life  "  ; 
and  from  the  lives  of  self-sacrifice  of  the  "  millions 
who,  humble  and  nameless,  the  straight  hard  pathway 
trod,"  and  have  died — following  the  example  of  the 


Introduction  1 7 

Founder  of  our  religion,  that  others  might  live.  And 
we  must  not  forget  that  the  whole  trend  of  modern 
legislation  is  in  the  direction  of  raising  all  round  the 
standard  of  living  of  those  least  able  to  help  them- 
selves. 

No  doubt  it  is  essential  to  such  a  change  in  the  body 
politic  that  men's  views  of  property  and  "  many 
possessions  "  must  undergo  profound  alteration. 
They  must  come  to  a  realisation  of  the  brevity  of 
human  life  and  the  futility  of  purely  material  things  : 
"  I  made  me  great  works ;  I  builded  me  houses  ;  I 
planted  me  vineyards :  .  .  .  I  gathered  me  also  silver  and 
gold.  .  .  .  Then  I  looked  on  all  ...  and,  behold,  all  was 
vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit."1  Nothing  can  be  more 
conducive  to  the  development  of  this  aspect  of  truth 
than  a  study,  deep  and  constant,  of  the  thoughts  of 
the  great  minds  of  the  past,  for  it  is  these  that  impress 
us  forcibly  with  the  sublime  wisdom  of  the  scriptural 
teaching :  "  The  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal, 
but  the  things  which  are  unseen  are  eternal."  No 
doubt  such  a  proposition  as  is  here  given  forth  will 
meet  with  much  scorn  and  derision,  but  we  must  never 
forget  that  "  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty." 

Many  may  be  inclined  to  believe  that  such  ideas  are 
inappropriate  and  inconsistent  in  a  work  pretending 
to  proceed  on  scientific  lines.  I  can  only  say  that  in 
this  volume  I  have  never  consciously  departed  from 
what  I  believe  to  be  the  scientific  method  in  the  con- 
sideration of  the  observed  phenomena  of  nature,  and 
I  only  ask  to  be  judged  without  prejudice  and  in  a 
spirit  of  toleration. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  state  that  the  aim  of  this 
volume  is  to  prove  that  the  social  amelioration  of 
mankind  is  a  necessity  of  the  spiritual  evolution  in 

1  Ecclesiastes  ii.  4,  8,  u. 


1 8  Introduction 

process  in  our  Western  civilisation,  and  that  from  a 
consideration  of  scientific  data  in  regard  to  the  laws 
which  regulate  the  universe  and  the  world  of  living 
matter,  and  more  particularly  the  history  of  mankind, 
we  are  justified  in  believing,  or  rather  compelled  to  the 
belief,  that  the  plan  of  the  universe  and  the  graduated 
scale  of  living  organisms  upon  the  earth  is  the  result 
of  design  on  the  part  of  an  eternal,  all- wise,  in- 
telligent, omnipotent,  directing  Power,  "  who  maketh 
for  righteousness."1  And  further,  we  are  forced  to 
adopt  the  logical  outcome  of  this  position — the  teleo- 
logical  view  of  the  universe,  which  means  an  evolu- 
tionary plan  pointing  to  the  final  goal  so  beautifully 
expressed  in  the  noble  lines  of  the  late  Laureate  : 

"  That  God,  which  ever  lives  and  moves, 
One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 
And  one — far-off  divine  event, 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

1  Matthew  Arnold,  "  Literature  and  Dogma." 


Chapter  II 
Darwinism* 

DARWIN  stated  that,  in  nature,  "individual 
variations  were  constantly  being  produced  "  ; 
some  of  these  were  successful  or  permanent ;  others 
not  so,  and  evanescent ;  some  injurious,  and  there- 
fore also  transitory.  He  called  this  process  "  natural 
selection  "  ;  it  is  a  necessary  complement  of  the 
"  survival  of  the  fittest."  The  process,  to  put  it  briefly, 
is  this  :  In  nature  the  struggle  causes  the  weak  to  die 
and  the  strong  to  live  in  virtue  of  greater  strength,  or 
cunning,  or  greater  power  of  flight  whether  on  land, 
water,  or  air.  Each  species  acquires  some  attribute 
which  enables  it  to  overcome  another  and  thus  secure 
the  food  by  which  it  lives  ;  the  constant  struggle  forces 
nature  to  make  special  efforts  to  endow  its  various 
forms  with  attributes  which  will  make  them  more 
certain  of  survival.  The  forms  acquiring  these  attri- 
butes unite  and  perpetuate  themselves — the  others  are 
slain  or  starved  and  disappear.  Natural  selection  by 
means  of  the  struggle  for  existence  brings  about  the 
"  survival  of  the  fittest,"  and  as  a  result  we  have  the 
evolutionary  process  in  nature. 

It  cannot  be  admitted  that  Darwin  has  any  right  to 
claim  the  evolutionary  process  as  his  own.  It  had 
been  anticipated  by  other  men  of  science,  notably  by 
Lamarck,  but  until  the  publication  of  the  "  Origin  of 
Species  "  it  had  never  seized  the  public  mind.  His 
theory  and  processes  were  accepted  almost  unani- 

*  The  Editor  of  the  "  Westminster  Review "  has  kindly  given 
his  consent  to  the  incorporation  in  this  work  of  the  article  on 
"  Darwinism"  published  in  his  Journal  in  April,  1911. 

19 


2o  Darwinism 

mously  by  the  scientific  men  of  his  day.  There  is  no 
doubt  he  was  a  man  of  the  very  greatest  powers  of 
observation,  of  wide  culture,  fine  literary  style,  and  of 
a  high  and  noble  character.  These  all  combined  to 
aid  greatly  the  acceptance  of  his  views. 

In  this  country  they  have  met  with  little  opposition. 
The  Church  at  first  stood  out,  but  unfortunately  its 
ministers  did  not  possess  the  scientific  knowledge 
necessary  to  defend  their  position,  and  the  result  has 
been  that  the  theory  has  been  largely  absorbed  by 
the  ecclesiastics.  In  Germany  alone,  so  far  as  I  know, 
have  scientific  men  actually  been  bold  enough  to 
attack  this  established  scientific  creed.  Professor  von 
Hartman  is  reported  to  have  said  :  "In  the  first 
decade  of  the  twentieth  century  it  has  become  apparent 
that  the  days  of  Darwinism  are  numbered."  Amongst 
its  latest  opponents  are  such  savants  as  Eimer, 
Gustav  Wolf,  De  Vries,  Hoocke,  Von  Wellstein, 
Reinicke,  and  many  others.  Professor  von  Fleischmann 
maintains  that  "  the  Darwinian  theory  of  descent  has 
not  a  single  fact  to  confirm  it  in  the  realm  of  nature, 
that  it  is  not  the  result  of  scientific  research,  but  purely 
the  product  of  the  imagination." 

In  this  country  I  do  not  know  of  any  men  of  science 
who  do  not  agree  with  Darwin — at  least  there  are  none 
who  have  openly  dissented.  Some  years  ago  I  read  an 
article  by  the  Reverend  Professor  Henslow  which  was 
decided  in  its  opposition.  Among  other  things  he 
wrote :  "  '  The  Origin  of  Species  by  Means  of  Natural 
Selection '  was  published  in  1859.  Up  to  the  present 
day  it  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  not  a  single  variety 
or  species  of  any  wild  animal  or  plant  has  ever  been 
proved  to  have  had  its  origin  by  means  of  '  natural 
selection.' '  In  1908  a  book  was  published  in  Edin- 
burgh entitled  "  No  Struggle  for  Existence ;  No 
Natural  Selection,"  by  George  Paulin.  I  believe  this 


Darwinism  2 1 

to  be  the  only  strong  onslaught  on  Darwinism  which  has 
been  produced.  Although  Paulin  is  not  by  training  a 
scientific  man  he  has  a  strong  logical  faculty,  and  I  am 
of  opinion  that  his  arguments  are  of  such  force  as  to 
destroy  the  basis  on  which  the  theory  rests.  He  admits 
a  "struggle  for  existence,"  but  not  in  the  Darwinian 
sense,  and  maintains  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
every  individual  of  every  species  fighting  continually 
with  its  neighbour  in  order  to  secure  sufficient  food  by 
which  to  maintain  life  ;  and  that  nature  has  made 
special  provision  for  the  elimination  of  all  excess  of 
reproduction.  Darwin  supposed  they  were  slain  in 
internecine  strife  ;  Paulin  proves  that  no  such  state 
of  things  exists  ;  that,  in  fact,  as  far  more  are  born  than 
ever  can  or  do  survive,  the  process  of  elimination  takes 
place  long  before  the  individual  reaches  maturity  or 
can  propagate  his  kind.  He  proves  also  that  individual 
variations  play  no  part  in  this  process,  and  that  nature 
does  not  make  use  of  individual  variations  to  originate 
new  forms. 

Darwin  admits  his  ignorance  of  the  method  of  elimi- 
nation of  excess  of  reproduction.  He  writes  :  "A 
struggle  for  existence  follows  from  the  high  rate  at 
which  all  organic  beings  tend  to  increase.  Hence  as 
more  individuals  are  produced  than  can  possibly  sur- 
vive, there  must  in  every  case  be  a  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, either  one  individual  with  another  of  the  same 
species,  or  with  the  individuals  of  distinct  species,  or 
with  the  physical  conditions  of  life."  Now,  when  we 
look  around,  do  we  find  starvation  working  havoc 
among  creatures  unable  to  find  food  from  being  less 
fitted  than  their  fellows  to  struggle  for  it  ?  Do  we  find 
the  reign  of  tooth  and  claw  everywhere  prevailing,  as 
it  must  if  Darwin  is  right.  Darwin  left  out  of  account 
that  Nature  might  have  some  means  of  eliminating  her 
superfluous  numbers  without  suffering  and  without 


2  2  Darwinism 

internecine  strife.  He  supported  his  belief  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  by  bringing  forward  the  fact 
that  the  various  carnivora  are  very  prolific,  and  that 
the  means  by  which  their  numbers  are  kept  within  due 
bounds  are  so  "  obscure  "  that  in  no  single  instance 
have  they  come  within  the  scope  of  man's  knowledge. 
Darwin  admits  his  ignorance  of  the  method,  and  formu- 
lates a  hypothesis  to  get  over  the  difficulty. 

Before  going  further  at  present  in  the  direction  of 
showing  how  nature  eliminates  her  excess,  we  may  point 
out  that  Paulin  altogether  denies  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest  "  ;  that  what  we 
find  is  really  the  survival  of  the  average,  as  all  varia- 
tions tend  to  be  destroyed  by  the  potent  influence  of 
marriage.1  Man  can  by  a  process  of  selection  originate 
new  breeds,  but  he  cannot  make  them  permanent. 
He  must  be  unremitting  in  his  selection,  otherwise  the 
strong  generic  influence  will  be  too  much  for  him. 
Man  by  selection  has  produced  many  varieties  of 
pigeon.  In  regard  to  this  Darwin  writes  :  "  With 
pigeons,  however,  we  have  another  case,  namely,  the 
occasional  appearance  in  all  the  breeds  of  slaty  blue 
birds,  with  two  black  bars  on  the  wing,  white  loins,  and 
a  bar  at  the  end  of  the  tail,  with  the  outer  feathers 
externally  edged  near  their  bases  with  white.  As  all 
these  marks  are  characteristic  of  the  native  stock 
pigeon,  we  presume  no  one  will  doubt  this  is  a  case  of 
reversion,  and  not  of  a  new  yet  analogous  variation 
appearing  in  the  several  breeds."  Now  we  think  it  will 
be  agreed  this  is  not  a  case  of  reversion  at  all ;  the 
explanation  is  that  the  generic  characters  have  over- 
come and  replaced  the  individual  variations,  which 
have  by  man's  accumulation  become  the  char- 
acteristics of  a  breed  derived  from  a  form  still  extant, 

1  Marriage  is  here  used  in  the  scientific  sense,  meaning  the  union 
of  the  sexes. 


Darwinism  2  3 

and  from  which  their  derivation  has  been  of  very 
recent  date.  Individuals  belonging  to  different  breeds, 
such  as  the  Tumbler,  the  Runt,  the  Carrier,  the  Bart, 
the  Pouter,  the  Turbit,  the  Jacobin,  the  Trumpeter, 
the  Laugher,  and  the  Fantail,  come  into  the  world 
devoid  of  their  proper  characters  as  such,  and  differing 
in  no  respect  from  the  wild  wood-pigeon,  their  common 
ancestor.  There  is  nothing  so  evanescent  as  these 
individual  variations  ;  in  a  state  of  nature  they  are 
immediately  destroyed  by  the  potent  influence  of 
marriage.  Let  us  take  another  instance  :  man  has  by 
careful  selection  been  able  to  produce  on  the  one  hand 
the  race-horse,  on  the  other,  the  heavy  and  powerful 
draught-horse.  If  the  process  of  selection  is  not  most 
carefully  guarded  in  either  variety,  their  particular 
characteristics  disappear  very  rapidly  and  nature  at 
once  brings  back  the  average  type.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  various  classes  into  which  man  is  artificially 
divided.  Mr.  Galton  has  pointed  this  out  in  regard  to 
the  heredity  of  genius.  Remarkable  sons  succeed 
remarkable  parents,  and  nephews  of  the  first  dis- 
tinguished man  display  as  great,  if  not  greater 
talents  than  himself.  But  of  many  cases  adduced,  in 
none  is  the  inheritance  carried  beyond  the  fourth 
generation,  and  he  also  points  out  that  the  highest 
display  of  genius  is  found  in  the  first  or  second  genera- 
tion, after  which  decadence  sets  in. 

Again,  Darwin  founded  his  theory  largely  upon  the 
geological  record,  but  out  of  his  own  mouth  we  think 
this  particular  argument  may  be  confuted.  He 
especially  insists  upon  the  minuteness  of  the  develop- 
mental accretion  which  occurs  when  each  new  variety 
is  produced,  and  upon  the  great  number  of  these 
necessary  to  the  formation  of  a  new  species  and  upon 
the  long  lapse  of  time  required  for  each  infinitesimal 
change  or  variation.  The  same  process  is  gone  through 


24  Darwinism 

with  every  evolutional  variety,  until  in  the  long  result 
of  time  a  form  emerges  so  far  modified  from  the 
original  as  to  take  rank  as  a  new  species.  Thus  a 
measureless  gulf  of  time  has  been  traversed  before  one 
species  has  succeeded  to  another,  and  numberless  have 
been  the  intermediate  varieties  which  have  been 
extinguished.  That  no  intermediate  forms  had  ap- 
peared among  the  many  distinct  specific  forms  was  a 
surprise  to  Darwin,  and  he  could  only  account  for 
their  absence  by  showing  the  imperfection  of  the 
geological  record.  As  these  intermediate  forms  must 
have  been  infinitely  more  numerous  than  the  perma- 
nent forms,  we  think  it  may  be  held  that  the  absence 
of  the  intermediate  is  truly  most  remarkable  and  is 
alone  sufficient  to  confute  Darwin's  explanation  of 
how  the  evolutionary  process  works. 

In  the  geological  strata  a  true  fish  is  sometimes 
found  in  the  midst  of  molluscs  and  crustaceans.  The 
first  fish  that  so  appears  is,  in  regard  to  its  external 
form  and  internal  structure,  as  perfectly  developed  as 
the  later  fish  forms,  having  no  correspondence  with 
any  antecedent  type  and  preceded  by  no  half-way 
form,  prophetic  of  its  emergence.  Then  we  may  ask 
how  were  mammals  developed  from  fish  forms  ?  How 
did  the  earliest  mammalia  come  into  being  without 
father  or  mother,  without  having  their  appearance  on 
the  stage  of  organic  life  heralded  by  a  series  of  forms 
in  the  making  from  the  fish  to  the  mammal  ?  It  would 
be  not  less  than  miraculous  that  while  finished  forms 
were  yielded  to  geological  research  in  large  and  growing 
numbers,  not  a  single  series  of  intermediate  forms, 
pointing  to  the  origin  of  a  perfect  generic  type,  should 
emerge. 

In  this  connection  we  may  consider  for  a  moment 
the  Neanderthal  skull — the  most  brutal  of  all  known 
human  skulls — found  near  Diisseldorf  in  the  valley  of 


Darwinism  2  5 

the  Rhine.  This  was  held  to  be  the  veritable  missing 
link  between  the  higher  apes  and  man.  But  Huxley, 
that  most  accurate  and  honest  of  scientists,  declared 
it  to  be  human,  and  Wright,  an  American,  in  "  Man 
and  the  Glacial  Period,"  declared  it  to  be  a  skull  which 
still  has  representatives  among  all  nations,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  was  a  close  reproduction  of  that  of 
Bruce,  the  Scots  king.  As  was  said  in  an  article  in  the 
"  Scotsman  "  of  22nd  December,  1908,  on  this  subject : 
"  This  is,  of  course,  very  unpalatable  news  for  us,  and 
just  like  the  impudence  of  these  Americans." 

Recently  there  has  been  discovered  another  of  these 
so-called  links  with  our  anthropoid  ancestors  at 
Chapelle-aux-Saints  in  France.  But  the  oldest  re- 
mains yet  found  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  precursor  of 
man  ;  they  are  only  man  himself.  Such  is  the  opinion 
of  all  scientific  men  capable  of  judging,  and  as,  accord- 
ing to  Darwin,  there  must  have  been  millions  upon 
millions  of  intermediate  forms  bridging  the  abyss 
between  the  anthropoid  and  the  "  genus  homo 
sapiens,"  are  we  not  entitled  to  cry,  "  Lo  !  where  are 
they  ?  "  And  the  only  answer  to  our  enquiry  is, 
"  No  one  knows." 

Professor  Arthur  Keith  in  the  Hunterian  lectures, 
delivered  at  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  in  dealing 
with  the  evolution  of  man,  says  :  "At  what  point  of 
geological  history  these  two  kinds  of  '  Man '  had  been 
evolved  from  a  common  stock  there  is  as  yet  no 
evidence,  but  a  good  deal  of  light  can  be  thrown  on 
the  problem  by  a  study  of  the  African  anthropoids — 
the  gorilla  and  the  chimpanzee.  Although  these 
modern  anthropoids  did  not  stand  in  the  way  of  human 
descent,  there  could  be  no  question  that  their  ancestral 
stock  did,  for  the  resemblance  between  man  and  the 
African  anthropoids  were  so  many  and  so  close  that 
they  could  only  be  explained  by  a  common  origin." 


2  6  Darwinism 

Judging  this  statement  from  the  purely  scientific 
standpoint,  one  is  warranted  in  describing  it  as  most 
unwarrantable.  It  is  one  thing  to  say  the  skeleton  of 
the  anthropoids  and  man  closely  resemble  one  another 
and  suggest  to  the  mind  the  possibility  that  the  one 
might  have  been  evolved  from  the  other,  but  to  boldly 
postulate  a  common  ancestor,  without  a  single  trans- 
mission form,  where  the  variations  from  the  one  to  the 
other  must  have  been  innumerable,  and  continued 
through  long  ages,  shows  an  assurance  which,  with 
all  due  deference,  we  are  entitled  to  consider  proceeds 
more  from  a  desire  to  bolster  up  a  theory  sadly  lacking 
support  from  the  observed  phenomena  of  nature  than 
from  belief  in  the  evidence.  Further,  we  are  entitled 
to  state  that  observations  of  this  kind  eventually  do 
no  good  in  supporting  prevailing  creeds,  and  in  the 
long  run  bring  discredit  upon  the  work  of  those  whose 
aim  is  to  extend  the  province  and  beneficence  of 
science. 

Dealing  with  this  point,  Huxley  writes  ("  Man's 
Place  in  Nature  ") :  "  The  granting  of  the  polygenetic 
premises  does  not  in  the  slightest  degree  necessitate 
the  polygenetic  conclusion.  Admit  that  the  negroes, 
the  Australians,  the  Negritos,  and  the  Mongols  are 
distinctive  species  or  genera,  and  you  may  yet  with 
perfect  consistency  be  the  strictest  of  monogenists  and 
even  believe  in  Adam  and  Eve  as  the  primeval  parents 
of  all  mankind,"  and  adds  :  "  it  is  to  Mr.  Darwin  we 
owe  this  discovery."  This  we  can  accept  in  so  far  as 
it  admits  that  all  races  of  mankind  have  probably 
come  from  one  common  stock.  But  we  can  get  no 
further  back  than  the  ancestral  stock  of  "genus  homo 
sapiens."  There  is  no  geological  evidence  of  transition 
forms,  which  must  be  demonstrated  before  we  can 
accept  the  evolution  of  man  from  the  anthropoids. 
If  there  is  no  such  demonstration  of  a  past  evolution, 


Darwinism  2  J 

and  we  know  none  ever  occurs  as  a  phenomenon  in 
nature,  from  the  standpoint  of  science  we  are  bound 
to  conclude,  and  entitled  to  say  :  "  We  cannot  accept 
a  hypothesis  which  is  a  mere  inference  and  is  devoid  of 
support  from  the  observed  phenomena  of  nature." 

In  regard  to  the  different  types  of  men  upon  the 
earth,  we,  as  Huxley  says,  have  every  right  to  assume 
their  descent  from  a  single  pair,  and  the  modification 
of  different  types  through  the  force  of  environment. 
Further,  we  make  bold  to  state  from  the  study  of 
observed  phenomena  that  man  remains  "  man,"  but  he 
differs  in  appearance  and  in  mental  and  moral  char- 
acteristics, according  to  his  environment.  Once  he  has 
acquired  the  necessary  qualities  suitable  to  the  climate 
and  special  features  of  the  country  he  is  living  in,  he 
remains  the  same  physically  from  age  to  age. 

The  most  recent  pronouncement  on  this  question  is 
that  of  Professor  Keith  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
British  Association.  He  said :  "  The  problem  of 
man's  antiquity  is  not  yet  solved.  The  picture  I  wish 
to  leave  in  your  minds  is  that  in  the  distant  past  there 
was  not  one  kind  but  a  number  of  very  different  kinds 
of  men  in  existence,  all  of  which  have  become  extinct, 
except  that  branch  which  has  given  origin  to  modern 
man."  He  makes  this  "  scientific  "  statement  on  the 
evidence  of  two  forms — the  Heidelberg  man  and  the 
small-brained  man  of  Java,  the  size  of  whose  brain  is 
said  to  be  one  half  of  that  of  a  well-developed  modern 
man.  This  description  would  not  be  very  exaggerated 
in  regard  to  that  of  many  types  of  African  negroes — 
the  pigmies  and  bushmen,  for  instance.  We  think  most 
thinking  men  will  agree  that  again  Professor  Keith 
draws  unwarrantable  conclusions  from  insufficient 
data.  In  fact  there  is  no  support  for  his  statement 
whatever.  He  can  adduce  no  evidence  to  prove  that 
men  of  a  different  type  existed  then  than  do  now,  or 


2  8  Darwinism 

may  appear  in  our  midst  as  sports.  They  are  forms 
typical  of  the  "  genus  homo  sapiens,"  even  although  the 
one  may  have  been  brutal  in  aspect  and  the  other  low 
in  intelligence. 

Moreover,  as  he  tells  us,  Professor  Ragazzoni  dis- 
covered in  the  same  strata — the  Pleistocene — remains 
of  a  man  of  quite  a  high  and  modern  type,  and  his  dis- 
covery is  accepted  as  authentic  by  Professor  Sergi,  of 
Rome.  So  that  on  the  evidence  we  are  entitled  to 
conclude,  as  was  stated  earlier,  that  the  oldest  remains 
yet  discovered  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  precursor  of 
man,  they  are  only  man  himself.  Again  we  ask  where 
are  the  millions  of  intermediate  forms  between  the 
anthropoid  and  man  ?  And  we  decline  to  accept  as 
truth  the  statement  as  to  the  existence  at  any  time  of 
different  kinds  of  men,  if  by  "  different  kinds  "  is 
meant  that  they  were  of  so  specific  a  character  as  to 
make  it  impossible  to  include  them  within  the  species 
as  we  know  it  to-day  of  the  "  genus  homo  sapiens." 

Darwin  insists  upon  the  causes  which  check  the 
natural  tendency  of  each  species  to  increase  beyond 
the  means  of  subsistence  being  "  most  obscure."  "  We 
know  not,"  says  Darwin, "  what  the  checks  are,  even 
in  a  single  instance."  In  the  animal  kingdom  the 
individuals  of  each  species  reproduced  in  each  genera- 
tion far  exceed  the  number  that  could,  if  they  all 
survived,  find  maintenance.  In  the  antelope  and 
other  grass  or  herb-eaters  it  is  easy  to  account  for  non- 
increase,  as  they  produce  only  one  offspring  at  a  time 
and  afford  sustenance  to  the  carnivora  or  flesh-eaters, 
to  whom  they  supply  the  necessary  amount  of  food. 
If  the  carnivora  became  too  numerous  it  is  surely 
evident  that  very  soon  the  herbivora  would  be  ex- 
terminated, while  on  the  other  hand  if  the  carnivora 
are  too  few,  the  herbivora  would  increase  to  an  undue 
extent.  Thus  nature  maintains  a  uniform  ratio 


Darwinism  29 

between  the  carnivora  and  the  creatures  on  which 
they  prey. 

The  carnivora  hold  the  key  to  the  situation ;  they 
do  not  make  war  on  each  other  in  their  native  haunts ; 
they  prefer  the  succulent  flesh  of  the  antelope,  of  which 
there  is  always  plenty ;  and  thus  a  certain  comity 
prevails  among  the  purely  carnivorous  tenants  of  the 
jungle.  Moreover,  they  are  careful  of  their  skins,  and 
prefer  to  get  their  food  with  as  little  danger  as  possible. 
For  example,  the  lion  and  leopard  will  not  face  an 
adult  wild  boar  or  a  full-grown  buffalo  as  a  rule,  but 
readily  carry  off  a  straggling  pigling  or  an  infant  buffalo. 
Battles  ending  in  the  death  of  one  of  the  combatants 
are  rare  indeed. 

From  these  considerations  it  would  seem  that  we 
ought  to  pause  and  consider  whether  the  theory  of 
Darwin  rests  on  proved  scientific  data  or  otherwise. 
In  case  this  may  be  considered  unwarrantable  assump- 
tion on  our  part,  it  may  be  well  at  this  stage  to  give 
evidence  that  even  some  of  our  scientific  men  of 
eminence  are  beginning  to  grow  restive  under  the 
domination  of  this  law.  Messrs.  Dewar  and  Finn, 
zoologists  of  high  standing,  in  their  book  "  The  Making 
of  Species,"  give  the  following  judgment  in  regard  to 
it :  "  We  think  we  may  safely  assert  that  scarcely 
ever  has  a  theory  which  fundamentally  changed  the 
prevailing  scientific  beliefs  met  with  less  opposition. 
It  would  have  been  a  good  thing  for  zoology  had  Darwin 
not  obtained  so  easy  a  victory.  .  .  .  Sir  Richard  Owen, 
a  distinguished  anatomist,  certainly  attacked  the 
doctrine  in  no  unmeasured  terms,  but  this  attack  was 
anonymous,  and  so  cannot  be  considered  very  formid- 
able. Far  more  important  was  the  opposition  of  Dr. 
St.  George  Mivart,  whose  worth  as  a  geologist  has  never 
been  properly  appreciated.  His  most  important  work, 
entitled  the  '  Genesis  of  Species/  might  be  read  with 


30  Darwinism 

profit  even  now  by  many  of  our  modern  Darwinians. 
For  some  time  after  the  publication  of  the  '  Origin  of 
Species  '  Mivart  appears  to  be  almost  the  only  man  of 
science  fully  alive  to  the  weak  points  of  the  Darwinian 
theory.  The  great  majority  seem  to  have  been  dazzled 
by  its  brilliancy.  The  main  attack  on  Darwinism  was 
conducted  by  the  theologians  and  their  allies,  who 
considered  it  to  be  subversive  of  the  Mosaic  account 
of  the  creation.  .  .  .  They  confounded  '  natural  selec- 
tion '  with  '  evolution,'  and  directed  the  main  force  of 
their  attack  against  the  latter,  under  the  impression 
that  they  were  fighting  the  Darwinian  theory.  .  .  . 
Had  the  theologians  admitted  '  evolution,'  but  denied 
the  ability  of  '  natural  selection '  to  explain  it,  the 
Darwinian  theory  would  not  in  all  probability  have 
gained  the  ascendancy  which  it  now  enjoys." 

We  can  now  go  on  to  consider  nature's  methods 
for  keeping  down  the  excess  of  reproduction,  which 
Darwin  acknowledged  in  his  own  words  to  be  "  most 
obscure." 


Chapter   III 
The  Cannibal   Habit  in  the  Male 

S  has  been  already  stated,  the  carnivora  hold  the 
key  to  the  situation,  and  we  must  therefore  con- 
sider the  applicability  of  Darwin's  law  to  this  species 
more  particularly.  Let  us  take  a  certain  area  of  the 
jungle  enclosing  approximately  one  hundred  pairs  of 
tigers.  A  tiger  on  the  average  lives  thirty  years, 
breeds  seven  times  during  that  period  and  gives  birth 
to  three  at  a  time.  In  each  generation,  therefore, 
2100  are  born,  and  of  these  only  200  individuals  or  100 
pairs  survive  to  replace  their  parents  and  to  procreate 
their  kind.  The  Darwinian  believes  that  200  survive 
by  virtue  of  superior  variations,  which  give  them  some 
slight  advantage  over  the  others,  who  to  the  number 
of  1900  perish  from  the  non-possession  of  these  or  from 
less  advantageous  variations.  The  weaker,  as  happens 
all  through  organic  life,  have  gone  to  the  wall  and 
perished.  How  did  the  1900  perish  ?  It  is  well  known 
to  those  familiar  with  their  haunts  that  they  don't 
attack  or  kill  one  another  in  the  struggle  for  sustenance ; 
such  events  are  of  the  rarest  occurrence.  However, 
let  us  strike  off  100  killed  in  internecine  strife — a  num- 
ber which  would  be  considered  much  too  large  by  all 
travellers  and  hunters  of  big  game.  There  remains 
1800  to  be  eliminated  before  they  have  reached  the  age 
at  which  they  can  propagate  their  kind.  They  don't 
destroy  each  other,  and  they  have  no  enemies  which 
can  destroy  them,  for  when  the  young  are  old  enough 
to  come  forth  from  their  dens,  their  parents  protect 


32     The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male 

them  most  effectively.  How,  then,  does  the  elimination 
take  place  ?  The  Darwinian  would  state  positively 
that  it  is  the  result  of  starvation.  The  food  supply  is 
only  sufficient  for  200,  and  this  number  survive  by 
means  of  their  superior  variations,  which  enable  them 
to  get  their  food  and  live.  This  infers  that  in  the 
limited  area  of  the  jungle  which  can  comfortably 
maintain  in  the  aggregate  400  adults  and  cubs,  there 
perish  from  inability  to  get  the  necessary  food  1900 
in  each  generation.  Yet  the  young  that  appear  as  food- 
seekers  are  as  well  preserved  and  have  their  main- 
tenance assured  to  them,  as  long  as  they  are  feeble  and 
immature,  by  the  protecting  guardianship  of  their 
parents,  and  are  only  left  to  their  own  resources  when 
able  to  hunt  and  kill  for  their  own  subsistence.  The 
limited  tract  of  jungle  certainly  does  not  contain 
enough  food  for  2100,  or  half  of  that  number,  for  any 
lengthened  period,  but  it  would  certainly  maintain 
them  for  a  space,  until  all  available  supplies  were 
reduced  to  the  vanishing  point.  If  such  a  multitude 
of  devourers  were  let  loose  their  natural  prey  would  be 
exterminated  and  the  end  would  be  the  extinction  by 
famine  of  all  the  tigers  themselves — parents  and 
progeny.  We  hope  this  argument  will  be  duly  weighed, 
as  it  is  most  important  and  seems  irrefutable. 

If  the  1900  enter  into  the  competition  of  feral  life, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  very  few  are  destroyed  by 
their  own,  or  individuals  of  other,  species.  Internecine 
warfare  does  not  cause  any  considerable  thinning  of 
their  numbers,  as  testified  by  numerous  hunters  of  big 
game.  While  again,  if  all  the  progeny  became  food- 
seekers,  the  only  result  would  be  a  famine-stricken 
existence,  but  not  until  they  had  made  an  end  of  their 
natural  prey.  It  is  not  possible  to  escape  from  this 
conclusion.  Ignoring  this,  however,  let  us  assume  that 
1900  are  doomed  and  unable  to  find  food,  and  die  of 


The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male      33 

starvation  by  reason  of  possessing  inferior  variations. 
It  will  surely  be  admitted  that  in  this  case  three  out  of 
every  four  would  be  in  a  starving  condition,  yet  no 
traveller  has  ever  encountered  young  tigers  that  were 
not  robust  and  in  good  condition  of  lusty  health.  No 
sportsman  has  ever  killed  an  emaciated  tiger  unless  it 
had  become  mangy  and  lean  from  old  age. 

If,  as  Darwinians  hold,  nine  out  of  every  ten  perish 
in  the  struggle  for  existence,  either  from  starvation  or 
by  the  cla"ws  and  teeth  of  their  own  and  other  species, 
we  must  suppose  that  every  haunt  of  the  carnivora 
would  exhibit  manifold  traces  and  signs  of  such  dire 
and  continuous  slaughter,  and  yet,  as  has  been  stated, 
the  testimony  of  all  travellers  in  the  forest,  the  jungle, 
and  the  desert  is  that  they  find  no  cases  of  famished 
animals,  and  only  very  few  carnivora  done  to  death 
in  battle.  If  true,  every  mountain  tract,  jungle,  and 
desert  home  of  feral  life  would  abound  in  visible  evi- 
dences of  the  demoniac  struggle  for  existence,  such  as 
would  make  it  impossible  for  an  acute  observer  of  the 
phenomena  of  nature  to  say  that  the  causes  which 
check  the  increase  of  carnivorous  animals  were  "  most 
obscure."  This  is  a  purely  logical  statement  of  the 
case  and  cannot  be  confuted. 

The  only  possible  conclusion  seems  to  be  that  the  off- 
spring of  the  great  proportion  of  the  carnivora  perish 
in  their  immaturity.  Adopt  this  explanation  and  the 
causes  which  check  the  natural  tendency  of  each 
species  to  increase  are  no  longer  "  most  obscure." 
Darwin  found  them  so  because  he  began  to  look  for 
them  after  they  had  fully  operated.  Nature  would  be 
vastly  more  cruel  if  she  sent  her  enormous  reproduction 
into  the  struggle  to  be  starved,  or  mangled  to  death  by 
tooth  and  claw  in  their  youthful  prime.  It  is  to  prevent 
such  a  struggle  for  existence  and  to  preserve  her  off- 
spring from  such  a  fate  that  she  painlessly  eliminates 


34     The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male 

them  in  the  earliest  stage  of  existence.  Nature  pro- 
duces her  offspring  in  numbers  that  appear  unneces- 
sarily large  for  a  very  practical  and  important  end, 
namely,  in  the  event  of  any  sudden  calamity  falling 
upon  the  species  to  provide  the  means  of  speedily 
recovering  its  numbers,  while  the  waste  is  of  no 
moment  and  entails  no  suffering  or  misery.  We  do  not 
exclaim  against  the  waste  of  life  when  we  see  Nature 
producing  from  a  plant  or  tree  thousands  of  seeds, 
"  of  which  she  brings  but  one  to  bear."  The  same 
principle  exists  in  the  animal  as  in  the  vegetable  world, 
and  its  action  is  attended  with  as  little  pain  in  the  one 
case  as  in  the  other. 

In  beginning  the  investigation  of  the  deletion  of 
immature  offspring,  two  problems  require  solution  : 
first,  the  method  of  elimination  of  the  excess  of 
reproduction,  and  secondly,  the  method  by  which  the 
necessary  number  of  young,  and  no  more,  are  preserved 
to  take  the  place  of  the  parents.  Paulin  describes 
how  an  accidental  circumstance  put  him  upon  the 
track  of  the  first  problem.  He  possessed  two  cats; 
the  female  from  time  to  time  showed  signs  of  preg- 
nancy ;  suddenly  she  would  appear  lean  and  lank,  but 
there  was  never  any  brood.  After  a  time  and  while  the 
female  was  pregnant  the  male  happened  to  be  killed,  and 
before  long  the  female  became  a  happy  mother.  This 
made  him  ask,  more  in  jest  than  in  earnest,  if  this  were 
nature's  method  of  getting  rid  of  the  excess  of  repro- 
duction among  the  carnivora.  He  made  further 
enquiries  as  his  curiosity  was  excited,  and  he  found 
that  in  every  house  where  a  tom-cat  was  tenant  along 
with  a  tabby,  the  litters  were  sure  to  be  devoured  by 
the  former.  He  also  had  observed  and  had  been 
informed  that,  when  the  female  is  pregnant,  the  male, 
some  days  before  parturition,  follows  her  about  per- 
sistently wherever  she  goes,  while  often  in  an  access 


The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male      35 

of  rage  she  flies  upon  him  and  drives  him  off  for  the 
time  being.  He  argues,  if  this  behaviour  is  representa- 
tive of  the  carnivora,  there  must  be  some  odour  about 
a  female  advanced  in  pregnancy  which  provokes  the 
male  to  keep  her  close  company  in  expectation  of  a 
feast  to  be  shortly  provided,  and  points  to  a  pro- 
vision of  nature  in  order  to  secure  that  the  elimina- 
tion of  young  shall  be  sufficient  for  her  purpose.  This 
method  is  at  once  the  most  direct  and  is  effected  with 
the  smallest  amount  of  misery  or  suffering,  for  the 
process  of  deletion,  so  far  as  the  young  are  concerned, 
is  an  absolutely  painless  one.  Nature  separates  the 
interests  of  the  males  and  the  females — the  one  to 
bring  forth  in  safety,  the  other  to  devour.  In  the 
conflict  the  majority  of  litters  perish,  while  a  sufficient 
number  is  preserved  to  ensure  continuance  of  the 
species.  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  other  observers 
that  the  males  of  the  rat,  the  rabbit,  the  cat,  the 
guinea-pig,  the  weasel,  the  pig,  and  other  wild  species 
so  act  when  they  have  opportunity.  While  on  a  visit 
to  a  friend,  and  while  this  subject  was  occupying  his 
thoughts,  it  was  announced  that  a  sad  mischance  had 
occurred.  The  gamekeeper  had  discovered  a  pair  of 
ferrets  ;  while  the  female  was  in  the  act  of  parturition, 
the  male  was  swallowing  the  infants  as  soon  as  they 
appeared ;  after  the  removal  of  the  male  one  young 
ferret  was  born,  and  was  the  sole  survivor. 

He  asks  naturalists  to  give  this  method  some  con- 
sideration, and  goes  on  to  aver  that  if  they  can  prove 
a  single  instance  in  which  the  male  remains  with  the 
female  at  the  time  of  delivery  without  devouring  the 
young  he  will  at  once  abandon  the  hypothesis ;  and 
adds  that  he  is  possessed  of  irrefragable  evidence  of 
this  instinct  of  the  males,  embracing  every  prolific 
carnivorous  and  herbivorous  species  without  exception. 
He  points  out  that  Darwin  is  at  a  loss  to  account  for 


36     The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male 

the  huge  pachyderms  not  increasing  beyond  measure, 
even  although  they  are  non-prolific  and  breed  slowly. 
He  writes  :  "  The  elephant  is  reckoned  the  slowest 
breeder  of  all  known  animals,  and  I  have  taken  some 
pains  to  estimate  its  probable  rate  of  increase.  It 
begins  breeding  when  thirty  years  of  age,  and  goes  on 
until  ninety,  bringing  forth  six  young  in  the  interval 
and  surviving  to  100  years  ;  if  this  be  so,  after  a 
period  of  750  years  there  would  be  nearly  19,000,000 
elephants  descended  from  the  first  pair."  "  Again," 
he  says,  "  on  the  other  hand,  in  some  cases,  as  in  the 
elephant,  none  are  destroyed  by  beasts  of  prey."  How 
then  did  Darwin  imagine  the  increase  of  the  elephant 
was  checked  ?  Did  he  suppose  that  "  natural  selection  " 
was  all-potent  to  arrest  its  increase  without  material 
means  being  employed  ?  Some  of  the  young  are  un- 
doubtedly destroyed  by  beasts  of  prey,  notwith- 
standing Darwin's  statement  to  the  contrary,  for  it  has 
often  been  reported  by  Anglo-Indians  that  elephant 
babies  are  not  infrequently  swooped  off  by  the  rush  of 
a  great  cat,  even  from  the  presence  of  the  protecting 
parent.  This  is,  of  course,  a  rare  occurrence,  and  is 
of  no  avail  in  limiting  the  numbers  of  this  wild 
species.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to  come  to  any 
other  conclusion  than  that  the  young  are  destroyed 
in  their  immaturity,  and  a  uniform  ratio  survive  to 
continue  the  species.  In  the  light  of  Paulin's  discovery 
we  can  understand  that  which  Darwin  acknowledged 
was  an  inexplicable  phenomenon  of  Nature. 

He  once  asked  a  gamekeeper  if  the  fox  was  aware 
of  the  particular  den  where  the  vixen  brought  forth, 
and  he  replied  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  so  at  the 
beginning,  but  that  he  frequently  carried  game  and 
other  supplies  to  the  vixen  and  cubs  when  quite  young. 
This  means  that  the  vixen  does  not  reveal  the  cubs  to 
the  fox  until  the  danger  period  has  passed. 


The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male      37 

In  the  autobiography  of  Faimali,  the  great  lion- 
tamer,  we  learn  that  the  lioness  must  be  allowed  to  bring 
forth  her  young  in  total  darkness,  and  if  within  nine  or 
ten  days  light  be  admitted  to  the  cage  the  fierce  mother 
at  once  devours  her  own  cubs.  Boys  know  this  danger 
in  regard  to  rabbits  in  the  first  fortnight.  The  limit  of 
time  in  which  light  is  excluded  must  coincide  with  that 
during  which  there  is  danger  to  the  cubs  from  the 
male.  We  see  in  this  the  beneficence  of  nature.  A 
great  work  of  elimination  is  required,  therefore  the 
appetite  of  the  male  is  excited  by  some  odour  from  the 
callow  offspring.  This  passes  off  after  a  few  days,  as 
partial  elimination  and  not  extermination  is  what  is 
intended.  Then  the  mother  goes  forth  to  seek  her 
mate  and  install  him  as  protector  and  provider. 
Faimali's  account  recalls  an  incident  in  his  father's 
house  when  he  was  a  child.  The  family  possessed  a 
cat,  a  great  favourite  on  account  of  its  gentleness  ;  it 
was  nursing  a  litter  of  kittens  in  an  outhouse,  when, 
to  everyone's  horror,  it  appeared  one  day  its  jaws 
dripping  with  blood — that  of  its  own  offspring.  A 
large  tom-cat  had  found  its  way  into  the  outhouse,  and 
she,  seeing  their  doom  could  not  be  averted,  had 
shared  in  the  feast  with  the  intruder. 

Faimali's  statement  as  to  the  effect  of  light  in  the 
lair  is  full  of  significance  and  suggestion  as  to  what 
takes  place  in  the  haunts  of  the  carnivora.  The  lioness 
steals  away  from  her  mate,  most  likely  when  he  sleeps, 
reaches  her  den  or  cave,  makes  her  lair  in  the  deep 
darkness,  and  brings  forth  her  whelps.  She  lies  in 
dread  of  her  wandering  lord ;  the  darkness  alone 
imparts  security  ;  whenever  this  is  broken  instinct 
impels  her  at  once  to  devour  them  ;  when  the  danger- 
ous period  is  successfully  passed  she  goes  forth  to  find 
the  male  and  install  him  as  protector. 

When  he  got  thus  far  in  his  investigation  he  deter- 


3  8      The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male 

mined  to  put  it  to  a  test  which  would  prove  its  truth 
or  falsehood.  He  consulted  Mr.  Bartlett,  superin- 
tendent of  the  Zoological  Gardens  in  London,  who  was 
then  alive.  He  informed  him  that  in  the  case  of  every 
prolific  carnivorous  and  herbivorous  species  the  male 
was  always  removed  at  the  time  of  delivery  ;  if  not, 
the  brood  was  straightway  devoured.  Paulin  denies 
that  there  is  any  reason  to  think  that  this  is  due  to 
confinement  rendering  them  savage  beyond  their 
wont  in  the  free  state.  He  has  proved  that  internecine 
strife  and  starvation  do  not  exist  among  them  to  any 
appreciable  extent  in  the  wild  state.  Again,  if  all  the 
young,  protected  as  we  know  them  to  be  by  their 
parents  during  their  early  youth,  should  appear  as 
devourers  of  their  natural  prey,  what  would  happen  ? 
Their  increase  would  be  prodigious  ;  their  natural  prey 
would  shortly  be  exterminated.  But  the  latter  never 
undergoes  diminution,  so  long  as  they  have  no  other 
enemies  than  their  carnivorous  destroyers.  Therefore 
the  enormous  reproduction  of  the  carnivora  do  not  all 
appear  as  food  seekers  ;  by  far  the  greater  number  are 
eliminated  before  they  go  forth  to  hunt  the  antelope, 
the  zebra,  or  any  other  grass-eaters.  This  habit 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  young  carnivora  found 
in  their  native  haunts  never  appear  to  be  more  numer- 
ous in  proportion  to  the  adults  than  are  required  to 
continue  the  species  in  undiminished  numbers.  The 
absence  of  all  knowledge  of  this  process  explains  how 
Darwin  found  the  causes  which  check  the  increase  of 
these  vigorous  kinds,  which  ought  otherwise  to  swarm 
in  great  numbers,  to  be  "  most  obscure."  This  elimi- 
nation Paulin  showed  to  be  not  an  argument  of 
Nature's  cruelty,  but  of  her  kindly  care  and  regard  for 
her  offspring,  and  is  the  mode  by  which  she  averts  the 
horrible  fate  contemplated  for  them  in  Darwin's 
"  struggle  for  existence." 


The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male      39 

He  goes  on  to  point  out  a  curious  result  of  his 
enquiries  at  the  gardens.  Darwin  had  observed  that 
as  a  singular  result  of  confinement,  while  the  carnivora, 
even  from  the  tropics,  breed  freely  there,  the  bear 
family  breed  very  seldom.  Paulin  reasoned  that  this 
must  be  due  to  her  organisation,  and  that  in  all 
probability  she  bred  seldom  in  the  free  state.  Nature 
had  provided  this  as  a  check  upon  the  bears  increasing 
unduly,  and  consequently  the  male  would  have  no 
propensity  to  devour  the  young.  He  asked  Mr.  Seth, 
who  had  charge  of  the  bears,  and  his  reply  was  that 
they  seldom  breed  in  the  gardens,  and  that  the  male 
never  touches  the  whelps  when  they  are  born,  nor 
afterwards,  and  he  is  therefore  allowed  to  remain  all 
the  time.  He  was  then  asked  if  all  the  different  kinds 
of  bears  produced  young  in  the  gardens,  and  his  reply 
was  that  they  did,  "  but  they  bred  very  seldom."  Even 
among  the  bears,  however,  there  is  one  exception  to 
this  rule.  We  are  able  to  state  on  the  reliable  authority 
of  a  hunter  of  big  game  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  that 
the  "  grizzly  "  male  does  devour  the  young.1  And 
this  is  readily  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  "  grizzly  " 
is  a  prolific  animal,  whereas  the  common  brown  bear 
breeds  seldom  and  brings  forth  only  one  at  a  time. 
The  bear  is  as  savage  as  the  lion,  but  all  the 
difference  lies  in  the  one  being  prolific  and  the  other 
not. 

Paulin  goes  on  to  state  that  important  as  these 
observations  are  to  students  of  natural  history,  he  has 
never  met  a  naturalist  or  a  believer  in  "  natural  selec- 
tion "  who  was  cognisant  of  the  facts  imparted  by  Mr. 
Bartlett,  and  he  observes  that  it  is  a  curious  fact  that 
Bartlett  never  refers  to  them  in  his  various  publica- 
tions, even  when  it  seemed  difficult  to  avoid  doing  so. 

1  I  was  informed  of  this  by  Mr.  Daly,  an  American,  on  his  way 
to  shoot  big  game  in  British  East  Africa. 


40      The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male 

For  example,  in  his  book  "  Wild  Animals  in  Captivity," 
he  mentions  that  the  male  wolf  takes  an  active  interest 
in  rearing  the  young  ;  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  run 
about,  the  male  throws  up  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  contents  of  his  stomach  for  the  young  to  devour. 
But  who  would  imagine  that  "  begins  to  run  about  " 
means  "  the  male  wolf  after  having  been  excluded 
from  the  cage  until  the  danger  to  the  cubs  has  passed 
is  restored  to  the  company  of  the  female  "  ?  A  very 
different  tale  indeed  !  The  male  has  been  transformed 
from  a  creature  ravening  to  devour  its  young  to  the 
kind  parent,  feeding  them  with  the  contents  of  its  own 
stomach. 

We  must  now  ask  what  principle  can  be  supposed 
to  govern  the  amount  of  elimination  so  that  it  shall 
cease  before  the  living  broods  become  too  few  to 
continue  the  species  in  due  numbers  ?  And  also  the 
means  of  recuperation  when  some  sudden  catastrophe 
has  reduced  the  species  to  the  vanishing  point  ? 
Nothing  is  left  to  chance  ;  in  nature's  arrangements 
the  element  of  chance  can  never  enter.  Aberrations 
from  the  normal  are  as  surely  the  product  of  unvarying 
law  as  the  normal  itself.  The  very  conception  of 
"  chance  "  argues  the  limitation  of  the  human  mind. 
To  go  on  with  the  problem :  the  individual  pairs  have 
each  their  own  territory,  out  of  which  they  seldom 
travel,  as  if  they  were  kept  within  their  bounds  by  some 
physical  constraint.  The  roaming  ground  is  more  or 
less  extensive  according  to  plenty  or  scarcity  of  prey, 
and  nature  has  adjusted  its  prolific  species  numerically 
to  the  capacity  of  their  several  coursing  grounds  to 
maintain  them  comfortably,  and  thereby  has  arranged 
that  a  certain  unvarying  proportion  of  the  broods 
shall  escape  the  ken  of  the  male.  Nature  has  adjusted 
to  the  finest  issues  the  instinct  of  the  male  of  prolific 
species,  so  that  the  proportion  saved  to  the  proportion 


The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male     41 

destroyed  is  a  fixed  determinate  quantity — constant 
and  unvarying. 

Next,  recuperation  after  decimation  by  forest  fires, 
organised  battles,  pestilence,  or  famine,  is  brought 
about  by  the  surviving  females  having  a  larger  space 
and  greater  ease  in  concealing  their  broods.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  more  broods  are  saved,  and  conse- 
quently the  gaps  are  quickly  filled  up.  It  thus  becomes 
evident  that  Darwin's  "  checks  "  are  not  checks  at 
all,  but  only  mere  temporary  calamities,  which  are  soon 
overcome  and  result  in  a  return  to  the  normal  popu- 
lation very  shortly  after  the  cessation  of  the  cause.  It 
will  be  seen  that  nature  had  a  great  economic  end  in 
view  when  she  endowed  her  species  with  such  power 
of  procreation.  Nature's  checks  are  not  the  same  for  all 
species ;  there  is  one  for  man,  one  for  unprolific 
another  for  prolific  herbivora  and  carnivora,  another 
for  raptorial  birds,  and  many  others.  The  destruction 
of  spawn  and  small  fry  by  adult  fishes  is  Nature's 
method  in  this  domain.  There  is  here  no  concealment 
on  the  part  of  the  females,  or  a  special  instinct  on  the 
part  of  the  males,  in  devouring  the  spawn,  for  the 
females  take  as  active  a  part  as  the  males  in  this, 
whether  of  their  own  or  other  kinds.  But  Nature  has 
provided  against  the  annihilation  of  her  finny  species 
from  this  universal  propulsion  to  devour  the  spawn 
by  endowing  them  with  enormous  procreative  powers. 
The  spawn  of  a  cod  amounts  to  the  enormous  total  of 
9,000,000  eggs.  Assuming  a  cod  produces  in  its  life- 
time 50,000,000  eggs,  of  these  only  two  may  be  hatched 
and  come  to  maturity.  But  the  enormous  destruction 
of  the  cod  in  the  various  seas  in  which  fishing  is 
carried  on  does  not,  from  age  to  age,  seem  to  affect  their 
numbers.  The  continual  destruction  of  adults  by 
fishermen  permits  a  multitude  of  young  cod  to  grow 
to  maturity,  which  otherwise  would  have  perished,  and 


42      The  Cannibal  Habit  in  the  Male 

the  annual  destruction  by  the  fishing-net,  great  as  it  is, 
is  balanced  by  the  number  of  young  cod  saved  from 
death. 

The  potentiality  of  increase  of  prolific  species  shows 
its  actual  power  in  a  startling  manner  when  the  condi- 
tions of  life  by  man's  intervention  are  altered.  Take, 
as  an  illustration,  the  introduction  of  the  rabbit  into 
Australia.  Its  fecundity  is  so  enormous  that  man 
would  find  it  difficult  to  keep  its  number  within  due 
bounds,  even  in  Great  Britain,  were  it  not  that  the  far 
greater  number  of  the  broods  are  destroyed  by  the 
males,  as  all  schoolboys  know  by  bitter  experience. 
When  this  animal  was  introduced  into  Australia  the 
conditions  of  life  were  wholly  changed;  there  were 
few  carnivora  to  destroy  them,  while  illimitable  space 
was  afforded  by  the  female  on  every  side  to  enable  her 
to  hide  her  brood  from  the  ken  of  the  male.  Accord- 
ingly it  multiplied  and  spread  with  the  rapidity  of  wild- 
fire, causing  disastrous  results  to  the  agriculturists. 

From  a  consideration  of  these  observed  phenomena 
of  nature  we  are  now  able  to  state  that  the  theory  of 
Darwin  does  not  rest  on  proved  scientific  data,  and  are 
entitled  to  say  that  his  "  checks  "  upon  increase  of 
population  can  no  longer  be  held  to  be,  in  his  own 
words,  "  most  obscure." 


Chapter  IV 
"Natural  Selection" 

MR.  BALFOUR  made  some  illuminating  remarks 
on  this  subject  at  the  opening  of  the  first 
international  Eugenics  Congress  in  London  in  1912, 
under  the  presidency  of  Major  Leonard  Darwin.  He 
said  :  "I  read,  for  instance,  as  almost  an  ordinary 
commonplace  of  eugenic  literature,  that  we  are 
suffering  at  this  moment  from  the  fact  that  the  law  of 
natural  selection  is,  if  not  in  abeyance,  producing  less 
effect  than  it  did  when  selection  was  more  stringent, 
and  that  what  we  have  to  do  is,  as  it  were,  to  go  back 
to  the  good  old  days  of  natural  selection.  I  do  not 
believe  that  to  be  scientifically  sound.  I  say  nothing 
about  its  other  aspects.  The  truth  is,  that  we  are  very 
apt  to  use  the  word  in  two  quite  different  senses.  We 
say  that  the  '  fit '  survive.  But  all  that  means  is  that 
those  who  survive  are  fit.  They  are  fit  because  they 
survive  and  they  survive  because  they  are  fit.  It 
really  adds  nothing  to  our  knowledge  of  the  facts. 
All  it  shows  is  that  here  is  a  class  of  a  race  or  species 
which  does  survive  and  is  adapted  to  its  surroundings, 
and  that  is  a  definition  from  a  strictly  biological  point 
of  view  of  what '  fit '  means."  I  have  reproduced  this 
portion  of  his  speech  in  order  to  demonstrate  the 
attitude  of  one  of  the  most  astute  intellects  of  our  time 
towards  the  Darwinian  hypothesis.  "  Fitness  "  and 
"  survival  "  are  by  no  means  one  and  the  same  thing, 

43 


44  "  Natural  Selection  " 

and  yet  Darwin's  whole  theory  of  "  natural  selection  " 
rested  upon  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest."  Mr.  Balfour 
proves  that  this  law  does  not  operate,  and  that  in  fact 
the  only  law  in  nature  is  the  survival  of  those  races  or 
species  which  are  adapted  to  their  surroundings.  In 
other  words,  environment  is  the  sole  agent  determining 
the  evolution  of  species,  and  the  Darwinian  hypothesis 
of  "  natural  selection  "  is  totally  devoid  of  support  from 
the  observed  phenomena  of  nature.  Mr.  Balfour 
proceeds  to  pour  forth  satire  upon  this  already  dis- 
credited law ;  he  continues :  "  Those  who  are 
interested  in  the  subject  will  read  constantly  that 
in  certain  cases  the  biologically  fit  are  diminishing  in 
number  through  the  diminution  of  the  birth-rate,  and 
that  the  biologically  unfit  are  increasing  in  number 
because  their  birth-rate  is  high.  But,  according  to  the 
true  doctrine  of  'natural  selection'  as  I  conceive  it,  that 
is  all  wrong.  The  professional  classes,  we  are  told, 
have  families  so  small  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to 
keep  up  their  numbers.  They  are  biologically  unfit 
for  that  very  reason.  Fitness  means — and  can  only 
mean  from  the  naturalistic  point  of  view — that  you  are 
in  harmony  with  your  surroundings.  And  if  your 
numbers  diminish  you  are  not  in  harmony  with  your 
surroundings,  for  there  is  not  that  adaptation  which 
fitness  in  the  naturalistic  sense  implies.  In  the  same 
way  I  am  told  that  the  number  of  feeble-minded  is 
greatly  increasing ;  that  can  only  mean,  from  a  natural- 
istic point  of  view,  that  the  feeble-minded  are  getting 
more  adapted  to  their  surroundings."  The  supreme 
logical  faculty  of  Mr.  Balfour  is  here  used  to  slay 
mercilessly  the  already  discredited  hypothesis  of 
"  natural  selection."  It  reduces  the  conclusion  to  which 
it  would  lead  us  to  a  veritable  travesty.  If  present- 
day  science  is  to  remain  logically  sound,  it  must  per- 
force discard  this  theory,  which  has  held  sway  too  long, 


"  Natural  Selection  "  45 

and  has  proved  a  barrier  to  the  advance  of  scientific 
investigation  in  so  far  as  the  laws  of  biology  are 
concerned. 

Messrs.  Dewar  and  Finn  in  their  recent  work,  "  The 
Making  of  Species,"  have  gone  far  to  show  the  insecure 
position  of  much  of  the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  and 
especially  of  the  hitherto  accepted  infallibility  of  the 
law  of  natural  selection,  and  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence of  the  dogma  of  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest." 
But  their  lack  of  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  operation 
of  the  cannibal  habit  in  nature  has  proved  a  stumbling- 
block.  Had  they  been  aware  of  it,  their  arguments 
would  have  been  much  more  heavily  weighted,  and 
their  conclusions  more  trenchant  and  positive,  and 
would  most  certainly  have  altered  absolutely  their  views 
of  the  accepted  creed  of  science  in  regard  to  evolution, 
biology,  and  the  whole  Darwinian  hypothesis. 

Yet,  unaware  as  they  are  of  the  existence  of  this 
habit  as  a  law  in  nature,  they  mention,  in  one  short 
paragraph,  that  in  some  animals,  as  for  example  the 
hyaena,  the  male  occasionally  devours  his  young  ones, 
and  they  state  it  as  "  a  check  on  multiplication  not 
mentioned  by  Darwin,  which  is  sometimes  imposed 
by  the  individuals  of  the  species  on  one  another." 
Now  here  we  have  a  glimmering  of  the  operation  of 
that  universal  law  which  prevails  in  all  prolific 
species.  One  would  have  thought  that,  reflecting  on 
the  non-increase  of  the  elephant,  and  particularly 
of  the  lion,  which  inhabits  the  same  regions  as  the 
hyaena,  they  would  have  extended  the  operation  of 
this  law  to  the  king  of  beasts,  which  certainly  is  never 
destroyed  by  its  enemies.  But  their  explanation  of 
the  non-increase  of  lions  in  Africa  is  "  teething 
troubles  in  the  whelp."  Surely  this  is  absolutely 
futile  :  such  an  explanation  can  only  be  given  when  one 
is  forced  to  attempt  to  explain  the  unexplainable.  It  is 


46 


"  Natural  Selection 


an  insult  to  nature.  It  amounts  to  this :  that  nature — in 
order  to  prevent  the  earth  being  overrun  by  lions,  and 
the  consequent  destruction  of  the  antelopes  on  which 
they  live,  and  thereafter  of  all  other  animals  not  cap- 
able of  withstanding  their  onslaught,  later,  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  human  race,  and  finally,  their  own 
annihilation  through  want  of  the  means  of  subsistence — 
was  forced  by  some  means  of  which  we  are  entirely 
ignorant  to  formulate  an  agency,  operating  in  a  fatal 
manner  during  the  process  of  dentition  upon  the 
young  of  the  greater  cats  only.  This  is  our  safeguard 
against  the  war  of  species,  the  wreck  of  nature,  and  the 
crack  of  doom  ! 

Is  it  not  pitiable  in  such  able  and  competent 
observers  ?  But  they  are  not  to  blame — they  were 
ignorant  of  the  real  facts  of  nature  in  this  instance. 
It  is  true  that  a  little  of  the  divine  gift  of  imagination 
would  have  helped  them  much.  It  argues  to  a  demon- 
stration the  limitation  of  the  human  intellect,  of 
which  we  omit  to  remind  ourselves  as  frequently  as  we 
ought.  Dewar  and  Finn  are  always  fair  to  every 
argument,  and  it  is  something  that  they  should  say : 
"  Men  of  science  not  infrequently  charge  the  clergy 
with  adhering  to  dogma  in  face  of  opposing  facts  ;  it 
seems  to  us  that  many  of  the  apostles  of  science  are  in 
this  respect  worse  offenders  than  the  most  orthodox  of 
churchmen."  "  The  average  scientific  man  of  to-day 
makes  facts  fit  his  theory  ;  if  they  refuse  to  fit  he 
ignores  or  denies  them."  On  page  27  we  find  :  "  Like 
Darwin,  we  welcome  all  factors  which  appear  to  be 
capable  of  effecting  evolution.  .  .  .  We  recognise  the 
strength  and  weakness  of  the  Darwinian  theory,  we  see 
plainly  it  has  the  defect  of  the  period  in  which  it  was 
enunciated.  The  eighteenth  century  was  the  age  of 
cocksureness,  the  age  in  which  all  phenomena  were 
thought  to  be  capable  of  simple  explanation."  Again 


"  Natural  Selection  "  47 

(page  28) :  "  The  theory  of  Natural  Selection  is  no  more 
able  to  explain  all  the  varied  phenomena  of  nature 
than  is  Ricardo's  assumption  that  all  men  are  actuated 
solely  by  the  love  of  money  capable  of  accounting  for 
the  multifarious  existing  economic  phenomena."  "  We 
think  (page  7)  we  may  safely  assert  that  scarcely  ever 
has  a  theory  which  fundamentally  changed  the  pre- 
vailing scientific  beliefs  met  with  less  opposition. 
It  would  have  been  a  good  thing  for  Zoology  had  Darwin 
not  obtained  so  easy  a  victory.  .  .  . 

"  Darwin  thus  became  a  dictator  whose  authority 
none  durst  question.  A  crowd  of  slavish  adherents 
gathered  round  him,  a  herd  of  men  to  whom  he  seemed 
an  absolutely  unquestionable  authority.  Darwinism 
became  a  creed  to  which  all  must  subscribe." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  just  fifty  years  ago 
Huxley  wrote  an  article  in  the  "  Westminster  Review  " 
from  which  Messrs.  Dewar  and  Finn  quote  :  "  After 
much  consideration  and  with  no  bias  against  Mr. 
Darwin's  views,  it  is  our  clear  conviction,  that  as  the 
evidence  now  stands,  it  is  not  absolutely  proven  that  a 
group  of  animals  having  all  the  characters  exhibited 
by  species  in  nature,  has  ever  been  originated  by 
selection,  whether  natural  or  artificial."  Fifty  years 
later  I  had  the  honour  to  write,  in  the  same  monthly, 
an  article  on  "  Darwinism,"  which  proved,  I  believe, 
the  truth  of  Paulin's  law  of  the  prevalence  of  "  the 
cannibal  habit  in  the  male  "  of  all  prolific  species  of 
carnivora  and  herbivora,  and,  consequently,  of  "no 
struggle  for  existence,  of  no  survival  of  the  fittest," 
of  the  obliteration  of  all  variation  by  the  potent 
influence  of  marriage,  and  of  the  survival  of  the  average. 
That  which  Huxley  found  could  not  be  absolutely 
proved  was  the  cope-stone  of  the  Darwinian  structure, 
and  it  is  only  now  that  we  are  able  to  appraise  thoroughly 
the  fact  that  Huxley  was — what  Darwin  unfortunately 


48 


"  Natural  Selection 


was  not — a  great  logician,  and  had  detected  the  weak 
point  in  the  arch,  which  would  eventually  give  way  and 
thus  shatter  the  entire  construction.  In  fact,  we  now 
know  that  the  bridge  is  without  a  cope-stone,  and 
natural  selection,  being  non-existent,  has  no  power 
over  the  forces  of  nature,  and  is  not  a  determining 
factor  in  evolution.  It  is  a  very  striking  fact  and 
attention  must  be  drawn  to  it  here,  that  Darwin 
himself  must  have  had  grave  doubts  as  to  the  operation 
of  this  law,  because  Messrs.  Dewar  and  Finn  write,  on 
page  89  of  their  book,  of  "  the  difficulty  urged  by  Darwin, 
that  isolated  sports  must  be  swamped  by  continual 
crossing  of  the  normal  type."  If  isolated  sports  are 
swamped,  which  they  must  be  by  the  continual  crossing 
of  the  normal  type,  we  surely  are  able  to  demonstrate 
that  in  nature  Paulin's  law  of  the  survival  of  the 
average  through  the  potent  influence  of  marriage  is 
universal.  By  continual  crossing  of  the  normal  type, 
all  variations  must  be  destroyed.  Therefore,  out  of 
Darwin's  own  mouth  we  can  prove  that  natural 
selection  is  inoperative  as  a  natural  law.  But  apart 
from  that  Darwin  would  require  to  prove  that  sports 
were  double,  that  is,  male  and  female.  If  not,  how 
otherwise  could  the  particular  sport  become  per- 
manent ?  This  Darwin  has  never  attempted  to 
explain.  This  statement  proves  the  innate  honesty  of 
the  man,  but  there  remained  the  difficulty  of  accounting 
for  the  elimination  of  the  excess  of  reproduction.  Had 
he  only  understood  how  this  was  accomplished,  and 
that  the  "  cannibal  habit  of  the  male  "  was  a  law 
operating  in  such  a  manner  throughout  nature  as  to 
regulate  exactly  to  the  needs  of  nature  the  numbers 
of  all  species,  we  should  have  been  to-day  nearer  to  a 
full  understanding  of  the  laws  so  far  as  living  matter 
is  concerned. 


"  Natural  Selection  "  49 

We  now  proceed  to  examine  further  some  of  the 
statements  in  Messrs.  Dewar  and  Finn's  very  able 
work.  On  pages  348  and  349  they  say  :  "  We  are 
inclined  to  think  that  neither  the  food  limit  nor  the 
beasts  of  prey  are  a  very  important  check  on  the 
multiplication  of  organisms.  The  lion,  for  example, 
was  never  so  numerous  as  to  reach  the  limit  of  its  food 
supply.  Before  the  white  man  obtained  a  foothold  in 
Africa,  vast  herds  of  herbivores  were  to  be  seen  in 
those  districts  where  lions  were  most  plentiful."  As 
was  pointed  out  earlier,  it  ought  to  be  patent  to  every- 
one that  if  the  lions  were  not  kept  at  uniform  numbers, 
the  antelopes  would  be  bound  to  be  gradually  ex- 
terminated by  the  excessive  progressive  increase  of  the 
carnivores  which  feed  on  them.  It  is  the  food  limit 
which  determines  the  numbers  which  shall  survive  in 
any  one  area  of  the  jungle.  The  number  of  the  ante- 
lopes is  determined  by  the  supply  of  vegetable  food. 
After  prolonged  droughts  the  number  of  the  antelopes 
is  greatly  reduced  by  famine  and  pestilence.  The 
lions  at  once  begin  to  suffer  from  starvation  ;  and 
numbers  die  in  greater  or  less  proportion,  according  to 
the  extent  and  severity  of  the  famine.  Whenever  the 
food  supply  becomes  limited,  the  male  about  the  time 
of  parturition  has  to  go  much  further  afield,  and  thus 
gives  his  mate  a  rare  opportunity  for  bringing  forth  in 
her  secluded  lair,  and  ere  long  the  reduced  numbers  of 
the  tribe,  with  the  return  of  the  food  supply,  come 
back  automatically  to  the  average.  When  the  lions 
are  in  average  numbers  and  food  supply  abundant, 
the  female  has  great  difficulty  in  finding  concealment, 
and  the  young  are  destroyed  in  numbers  sufficient  to 
keep  the  tribe  at  a  fixed  ratio.  If  "  teething  troubles 
in  the  whelp  "  were  the  cause  of  the  limitation  of 
excess  of  reproduction,  how  could  the  losses  through 
famine,  pestilence,  and  the  rifle  be  made  up  ?  If  this 
D 


50  "  Natural  Selection  " 

were  the  cause,  the  tribe  would  soon  disappear ;  but  the 
balance  of  nature  never  varies,  and  nothing  is  left  to 
chance.  But  now  that  we  know  the  law,  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  the  unvarying  proportion 
of  all  species.  Darwin  adopted  Malthus's  doctrine  to 
prove  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  but  as  it  is  now 
established  that  mankind  or  nations  never  do  outrun 
the  means  of  subsistence  and  that  the  birth-rate 
depends  primarily  upon  the  demands  of  the  labour 
market,  so  we  know  that  animals  maintain  a  direct 
ratio  to  their  means  of  subsistence,  the  antelope  to 
the  amount  of  vegetation,  the  lions  to  the  number  of 
antelopes.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that  the  ratio  is 
constant  and  unvarying.  As  already  pointed  out,  the 
undue  increase  of  the  lions  would  shatter  the  "  scheme 
of  things  entire,"  but  this  is  impossible  under  the 
operation  of  the  law  regulating  the  cannibal  habit  in 
the  male. 

It  is  very  striking  to  observe  how  Wallace  never 
hesitates  to  contradict  Darwin  as  to  the  workings  of 
"  natural  selection,"  and  "  sexual  selection."  For 
example,  in  regard  to  the  gaudy  plumage  of  male  birds, 
he  explains  that  the  females  are  plain  and  non- 
attractive  in  order  that  while  sitting  on  eggs  they  may 
not  attract  attention.  Surely  this  is  far-fetched  and 
shows  the  straits  to  which  Darwinians  have  been 
driven  in  order  to  maintain  their  hypothesis.  As 
Dewar  points  out,  in  some  species,  e.g.  the  Paradise 
Fly-catcher,  where  the  male  bird  is  brilliantly  coloured, 
we  find  him  sitting  on  the  eggs  quite  as  much  as  the 
hen.  Again,  in  the  Indian  Sunbirds  the  cocks  are 
brilliantly  coloured  and  the  hens  not  so,  but  as  the 
nests  are  well  covered  in,  the  latter  might  have 
possessed  all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow. 

On  pages  340  and  341  they  give  instances  of  marked 
variations  which  occur  in  the  genus  homo  :  (a)  Colour 


"  Natural  Selection  "  51 

blindness,  which  has  been  recorded,  through  the  males 
only,  of  seven  generations,  (b)  similarly,  cataracts  in  the 
males  of  four  generations,  (c)  "  Edward  Lambert, 
born  1717,  is  said  to  have  been  born  covered  with 
spines.  In  his  children  this  abnormality  persisted  for 
five  generations,  and  in  the  males  only  ;  this  pecu- 
liarity began  to  be  manifest  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth 
month  after  birth."  Now,  it  must  be  evident  to 
everyone  that  these  abnormal  qualities  never  persist : 
in  other  words,  there  is  a  return  to  the  average  through 
the  potent  influence  of  marriage,  just  as  in  eight 
generations  all  trace  of  the  negro  can  be  eliminated  by 
constant  inter-marriage  with  the  white.  These 
instances  give  additional  support  to  Darwin's  own 
dictum  that  "  isolated  sports  must  be  swamped  by 
continual  crossing  of  the  normal  type." 

On  page  347  Messrs.  Dewar  and  Finn  deal  with  the 
"  struggle  for  existence."  Their  remarks  are  so  novel  in 
any  present-day  work  on  Zoology,  that  I  feel  impelled 
to  quote  the  passage  in  extenso  :  "As  usual,  Darwin's 
disciples  have  failed  to  improve  upon  the  accounts  he 
gave  of  the  nature  of  the  struggle  for  existence.  This 
is  set  forth  in  Chapter  III  of  the  '  Origin  of  Species.' 

"  'The  causes,'  writes  Darwin  (new  edition,  p.  83), 
'  which  check  the  natural  tendency  of  each  species 
to  increase  in  number  are  most  obscure.  Look  at  the 
most  vigorous  species  ;  by  as  much  as  it  swarms  in 
numbers,  by  so  much  will  it  tend  to  increase  still 
further.  We  know  not  exactly  what  the  checks  are, 
even  in  a  single  instance.'  This  is  perfectly  true, "say 
Dewar  and  Finn,  "  nevertheless,  elaborate  theories  of 
protective  and  warning  coloration  and  mimicry  have 
been  built  up  on  the  tacit  assumption  that  the  checks 
to  the  multiplication  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  species  are  the 
creatures  which  prey  upon  them.  Possibly  no  Wal- 
laceian  asserts  this  in  so  many  words,  but  it  is  a 


52  "  Natural  Selection  " 

logical  deduction  from  the  excessive  prominence  each 
one  gives  to  the  various  theories  of  animal  coloration  ; 
for,  if  the  chief  foes  of  an  organism  are  not  the  creatures 
which  prey  upon  it,  how  can  the  particular  shade  and 
pattern  of  its  coat  be  of  such  paramount  importance 
to  it  ?  We  shall  endeavour  to  show  that  there  are 
checks  on  the  increase  of  a  species  far  more  potent  than 
the  devastation  caused  by  those  creatures  which  feed 
upon  it."  They  then  proceed  to  set  forth  some  of  the 
checks  on  the  multiplication  of  organisms  mentioned 
by  Darwin  in  the  " Origin  of  Species" — the  destruction 
of  eggs  and  very  young  animals  which  seem  generally 
to  suffer  most,  and  showing  that  once  the  average 
animal  becomes  fully  grown  its  survival  is  much 
enhanced.  This  deduction  is  positively  certain,  and  is  a 
necessary  corollary  of  the  cannibal  habit  of  the  male. 

Darwin's  second  "  check  "  is  the  limitation  of  the  food 
supply.  This  must  of  necessity  regulate  everything  ; 
but  it  has  been  clearly  proved  that  the  numbers  of  a 
species  never  increase  beyond  the  means  of  subsistence. 
As  we  have  demonstrated  already,  if  the  vegetation, 
for  example,  in  a  certain  area  of  the  African  jungle 
keeps  uniform,  the  antelopes  do  not  increase  beyond  the 
number  which  can  comfortably  feed  thereon;  and 
similarly  the  ferocious  and  unconquerable  lion  does  not 
increase,  but  bears  a  uniform  ratio  to  the  numbers  of 
the  antelopes,  which  are  its  chief  means  of  subsistence. 
We  have  already  pointed  out  a  strange  fact :  that  the 
first  effect  of  a  diminished  food  supply  is  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  young  which  survive  and  escape  the 
all-devouring  male  parent.  This  is  nature's  means  of 
restoring  the  loss  among  the  adult  members  of  the 
tribe  caused  by  starvation.  Most  famine  periods  are 
temporary  ;  if  by  any  chance  the  famine  were  long 
continued,  after  a  time  the  gradual  extinction  and 
final  extermination  of  the  race  would  of  necessity 


"  Natural  Selection  "  53 

begin.  And  it  is  quite  easy  to  understand  how  the 
numbers  would  soon  be  restored  after  they  had  been 
reduced  to  nearly  the  vanishing-point,  if  eventually 
the  famine  came  to  a  conclusion.  At  first  the  males 
would  have  to  roam  far  in  order  to  secure  food,  and  the 
female  would  have  ample  time  and  opportunity  to 
see  that  her  young  were  secluded  in  safety  for  the 
necessary  period.  And  thus  in  a  comparatively  short 
time  the  population  would  come  back  to  its  former 
standard  and  continue  in  direct  ratio  to  the  means  of 
subsistence. 

But  it  must  be  said  that  Dewar  and  Finn  have  shown 
far  more  insight  in  regard  to  the  Darwinian  hypothesis 
than  any  other  British  naturalists.  For  instance,  in 
regard  to  this  very  matter  they  write  :  "  We  are 
inclined  to  think  that  neither  the  food  limit  nor  the 
beasts  of  prey  are  a  very  important  check  on  the  multipli- 
cation of  organisms,"  and  they  point  out  that  the  lion 
was  never  so  numerous  as  to  reach  the  limit  of  its  food 
supply,  and  that  "  vast  herds  of  herbivores  were  to  be 
seen  in  those  districts  where  lions  were  most  plentiful." 

Moreover,  they  have  the  courage  to  attack  the 
generally  accepted  theories  of  animal  coloration,  which 
are  really  ingenious  devices  to  uphold  the  founda- 
tions of  a  stronghold  now,  at  last,  showing  signs  of 
collapse. 

Climate,  damp,  pestilence  and  parasites,  all  men- 
tioned by  Darwin  as  "  checks,"  are  next  dealt  with  by 
Dewar  and  Finn,  and  in  regard  to  these  ah1  that  can 
be  said  is  that  the  discussion  by  these  scientists  would 
have  been  very  different  if  only  they  had  understood 
the  operation  of  the  cannibal  habit  and  its  universality. 
But,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  they  do  show  a 
glimmering  of  the  light,  and  we  have  no  doubt  in  time 
would  have  discovered  it,  for  it  is  mentioned  on  page 
353,  and  deserves  to  be  fully  quoted  :  "A  check  on 


54  "  Natural  Selection  " 

multiplication,  not  mentioned  by  Darwin,  is  that  which 
is  sometimes  imposed  by  the  individuals  of  the  species 
on  one  another.  Thus,  in  some  animals,  as,  for 
example,  the  hyaena,  the  male  occasionally  devours 
his  own  young  ones."  Paulin  worked  at  his  discovery 
for  ten  years  and  published  his  book  in  1908,  and  it  is 
surely  a  great  triumph  to  his  marvellous  power  of 
logical  deduction  that  in  the  following  year  a  great 
and  illuminative  work  by  scientific  investigators  of 
the  very  first  order,  full  of  original  observations  and 
arguments,  attacking  and  subversive  of  the  very 
foundation  of  the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  should 
mention  a  check  on  the  increase  of  species  in  one  tribe 
of  carnivora — which  Paulin  had  demonstrated  applied 
in  the  case  of  all  prolific  herbivora  and  carnivora. 
"  The  whirligig  of  time  brings  in  his  revenges,"  and 
he,  who  was  attacked  by  nearly  all  the  careless  and 
ignorant  reviewers  of  the  various  journals  which 
pretend  to  deal  with  scientific  matters,  whether  daily  or 
weekly,  popular  or  scientific,  has  proved  his  case  and 
come  into  his  own.  He  died  in  the  following  year,  but 
fully  persuaded  that  at  some  not  far-off  date  truth 
would  prevail.  And  he  has  not  had  to  wait  long,  for 
already,  in  the  very  year  after,  come  these  most 
brilliant  investigators  and  philosophers  in  matters 
zoological  with  the  positive  assurance  that  in  one  tribe 
and  in  others  his  law  does  operate,  and  one  has  little 
hesitation  in  believing  that  in  time  they  will  appreciate 
its  universality  and  its  application  to  all  the  prolific 
carnivores  and  herbivores. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  that  Dewar  and  Finn 
have  exploded  the  hitherto  accepted  views  of  "natural 
selection"  in  bringing  about  protective  mimicry  and 
warning.  They  attack  it  also  as  the  means  of  survival 
of  favourable  variations,  and  point  out  that  natural 
selection  "  may  indirectly  cause  the  survival  of  un- 


"  Natural  Selection  "  55 

favourable  variations,  or  of  variations  which  are  of  no 
utility  to  the  organism,"  because  they  happen  to  be 
co-related  with  organs  or  structures  that  are  useful. 
They  point  out  the  great  importance  of  the  co-relation 
of  organs,  and  that  this  phenomenon  has  been  quite 
neglected  by  zoologists  who  have  followed  Darwin, 
and  add  significantly:  "This  is  an  example  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  superficial  theories  which  to-day 
command  wide  acceptance  have  tended  to  bar  the 
way  to  research."  After  such  a  statement — a  direct 
attack  on  the  accepted  creed  of  science,  and  the  sole 
basis  of  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest  " — surely  we  have 
every  right  to  expect  due  consideration  of  that  which 
explains  the  hitherto  unexplainable,  and  relegates  the 
Darwinian  theory  to  the  position  of  a  mere  hypothesis 
which  has  proved  a  barrier,  although  only  a  temporary 
one,  in  the  way  of  scientific  discovery. 

Dewar  and  Finn  in  discussing  what  Romanes  calls 
prototypic  evolution,  quote  Darwin  ("  Origin  of 
Species"),  showing  that  he  was  of  opinion  that 
natural  selection  is  able  to  bring  this  about.  They 
write  :  "  Darwin  tacitly  assumes,  in  the  illustration  he 
gives,  that  the  various  races  of  the  carnivorous  animals 
are  in  some  way  prevented  from  intercrossing  ;  for,  if 
they  breed  indiscriminately,  these  races  will  tend  to 
be  obliterated."  This  is  the  first  time,  so  far  as  we  know, 
that  scientific  men  have  pointed  out  the  impossibility 
of  the  survival  of  variation.  We  have  only  to  use  our 
powers  of  observation  in  regard  to  the  human  race  to 
assure  ourselves  of  this.  We  have  diversities  of  races 
produced  through  environment.  Sports  of  all  kinds 
appear  from  time  to  time,  but  these  particular  charac- 
teristics, whatever  they  may  be,  are  not  perpetuated  ; 
they  may  be  passed  on  for  one,  two,  or  three  genera- 
tions ;  but  the  inevitable  always  happens,  and  back  we 
come,  as  Paulin  pointed  out  before  any  other  observer, 


"  Natural  Selection  " 

to  the  "  survival  of  the  average,  under  the  potent 
influence  of  marriage."  And  this  is  supported  by 
Professor  Morgan  Lloyd,  who  writes  in  "  Animal  Life 
and  Intelligence "  :  "  That  perfectly  free  inter- 
crossing between  any  or  all  of  the  individuals  of  a 
given  group  of  animals  is,  so  long  as  the  characters  of 
the  parents  are  blended  in  the  offspring,  fatal  to 
divergence  of  character,  is  undeniable."  Man,  by 
selection,  can  bring  about  varieties  of  pigeons  and 
horses,  as  everyone  knows,  but  nature  never  does  this. 
As  soon  as  man  ceases  to  select  and  protect  most 
carefully,  we  get  our  pigeons  back  to  the  common  rock, 
and  our  horses,  race  and  draught,  similarly  returning 
to  the  average. 

Dewar  and  Finn  deal  with  this  matter  with  clearness 
and  certainty.  They  quote  Romanes  in  "  Darwin  and 
after  Darwin  "  to  the  effect  that  "  divergence  between 
the  average  qualities  of  a  species,  and  those  of  an 
isolated  section,  if  the  isolation  continues  sufficiently 
long,  differentiation  of  type  is  necessarily  bound  to 
ensue."  Their  comment  on  this  is  most  illuminating 
(p-  374)  :  "  This  assumption  is  unfortunately  not 
founded  on  fact.  If  we  were  to  take  one  hundred 
racehorses  and  shut  them  up  in  one  park,  and  one 
hundred  carthorses  and  shut  them  up  in  another  park, 
and  prevent  the  inter-breeding  of  the  two  stocks,  we 
should,  if  Romanes'  tacit  assumption  be  true,  see  the 
two  types  diverge  more  and  more  from  one  another. 
We  know  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  will  tend, 
generation  after  generation,  to  become  more  like  one 
another."  In  support  of  this,  they  bring  forward 
Galton's  Law  of  Regression,  and  they  show  forth  the 
second  fallacy  in  Romanes'  reasoning,  which  is  "  based 
on  the  assumption  that  there  is  no  limit  to  the  amount 
of  change  which  can  be  effected  by  the  accumulation 
of  fluctuating  variations ;  but,  as  we  have  already 


"  Natural  Selection  "  57 

seen,  there  is  a  very  definite  limit,  and  this  limit  is 
quickly  reached." 

Now,  what  does  this  mean  ?  In  the  first  place  that 
variation  is  a  rare  thing,  and  that  when  it  does  occur,  it 
is  very  soon  extinguished,  and  secondly,  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  "  natural  selection/'  as  all  variations  are 
destroyed  by  the  potent  influence  of  marriage. 

Dewar  and  Finn  conclude  :  "  Isolation,  then,  is  a 
very  important  factor  in  the  making  of  species,  for 
without  it,  in  some  form  the  multiplication  of  species 
is  impossible."  Here  we  come  to  a  crux,  because  if 
true,  then  mutations  must  constantly  occur  and 
"  natural  selection"  must  be  the  dominant  law,  which 
accounts  for  the  enormous  number  of  species  existing 
on  the  earth.  But  where  does  isolation  occur  ?  Is  it 
not  another  way  of  saying  that  environment  does  affect 
species  ?  or,  that  species  do  adapt  themselves  to  their 
surroundings,  such  as  climate,  food  supply,  danger  of 
attack,  and  so  on  ?  If  so,  that  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  the  suggestion  in  their  conclusion,  which  means 
that  isolation  prevails  after  mutations  have  occurred, 
and  these  occur  independently  of  environment  and  are 
perpetuated  in  some  mysterious  way,  when,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  know  that  all  variations  not  induced 
by  environment  are  submerged  by  the  influence  of 
marriage  and  the  consequent  return  to  the  average. 

Dewar  and  Finn  close  their  book  with  a  very  able 
and  interesting  summary  of  the  methods  in  which  new 
species  are  made.  They  say  :  "  We  have  studied  the 
various  factors  of  evolution — variation  and  co-relation, 
heredity,  natural  selection,  sexual  selection,  and 
other  kinds  of  isolation.  How  do  these  combine  to 
bring  new  species  into  being,  and  to  establish  the 
same  ?  "  In  reply  to  this  as  regards  natural  selection 
they  say  that  "it  is  an  important  factor  in  evolution, 
but  not  an  indispensable  one.  Suppose  there  is  no 


"  Natural  Selection  " 

such  thing  ;  that  numbers  are  kept  constant  by  the 
elimination  of  all  individuals  born  in  excess  of  those 
required  to  maintain  the  species  at  the  existing  figure, 
and  that  the  elimination  of  the  surplus  is  effected  not  by 
natural  selection,  but  by  chance,  by  the  drawing  of 
lots."  Is  it  not  remarkable  that  these  able  observers 
should  talk  of  chance  in  regard  to  the  operations  of 
nature?  we  constantly  say  that  "miracles  do  not 
happen,"  because  the  Deity  never  violates  the  laws 
which  he  has  established,  such  as  gravitation,  con- 
servation of  energy,  "  omne  vivum  ex  vivo,"  etc.,  and 
yet  these  most  competent  zoologists  actually  suggest 
chance  to  explain  the  phenomenon  which  Darwin  ad- 
mitted, of  the  method  of  which  he  was  ignorant,  and  said 
was  "  most  obscure."  It  is  surely  evident  at  last  with- 
out fear  of  contradiction,  after  all  the  evidence  culled 
from  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject,  from  men  of 
practical  knowledge  of  all  animals  in  captivity  and  in 
the  wild  state,  that  the  cannibal  habit  in  the  male  is 
the  means  of  the  "  elimination  of  all  individuals  born 
in  excess  of  the  numbers  required  to  maintain  the 
species  at  the  existing  figure."  Dewar  and  Finn  go  on 
to  say  :  "  Under  such  circumstances  there  may  be  evo- 
lution ;  existing  species  may  undergo  change,  but  the 
evolution  will  be  determined  solely  by  the  lines  along 
which  variations  occur.  If  mutations  take  place  only 
along  certain  fixed  lines  and  tend  to  accumulate  in  the 
given  direction,  evolution  will  proceed  along  these 
lines  quite  independently  of  the  utility  to  the  organism 
of  the  mutations  that  occur.  An  unfavourable  muta- 
tion will  have  precisely  the  same  effect  as  a  favourable 
one.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  mutations  occur  indis- 
criminately on  all  sides  of  the  mean,  then  these  muta- 
tions which  happen  to  occur  most  frequently  will  have 
the  best  chance  of  survival,  and  they  will  mark  the 
lines  of  the  evolution.  Under  such  circumstances  there 


"  Natural  Selection  "  59 

will  be  no  evolution,  unless,  by  some  cause  or  other, 
portions  of  the  species  are  isolated,  because,  in  the 
long  run,  the  mutations  will  neutralise  one  another." 
They  then  suppose  "  that  natural  selection  comes 
into  play,"  and  endeavour  to  prove  that  in  this  case 
"  the  result  of  natural  selection  would  be  to  accelerate 
evolution,  by  weeding  out  certain  classes  of  individuals, 
and  preventing  them  breeding  with  those  it  has 
selected."  On  the  other  hand,  they  point  out  that 
"  natural  selection  would  tend  to  diminish  the  number 
of  species  which  have  arisen  through  mutation, 
inasmuch  as  it  weeds  out  many  mutants  which  would 
not  have  perished  had  their  survival  been  determined 
by  lot."  This  is  very  interesting,  but  inconclusive  ; 
surely  it  is  not  unjust  to  say  it  is  more  metaphysics 
than  science ;  it  is  speculation,  and  not  fair  deduction 
from  the  observed  phenomena  of  nature.  They  admit 
that  "  natural  selection  does  not  make  new  species. 
These  make  themselves,  or  rather  originate  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  of  variation,"  and  finally  we  have 
the  following  assertion  :  "  The  real  makers  of  species 
are  the  inherent  properties  of  protoplasm  and  the 
laws  of  variation  and  heredity.  We  seem  to  be 
tolerably  near  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  causes 
of  the  survival  of  any  particular  mutation.  This, 
however,  is  merely  a  side  issue.  The  real  problem  is 
the  cause  of  variations  and  mutations,  or,  in  other 
words,  how  species  originate.  At  present  our  know- 
ledge of  the  causes  of  variation  and  mutation  is 
practically  nil.  We  do  not  even  know  along  what  lines 
particular  mutations  occur.  We  have  yet  to  discover 
whether  mutating  organisms  behave  as  though  they  had 
behind  them  a  force  acting  in  a  definite  direction." 

No  one  can  dispute  that  "  the  makers  of  species  are 
the  inherent  properties  of  protoplasm."  That  is  a 
truism — an  axiom  of  science.  But  we  are  still  at  the 


60  "  Natural  Selection  " 

"How?" — the  cause  of  mutations;  the  survival  of 
mutations ;  whether  these  are  slow  and  progressive  or 
sudden  and  extensive.  If  natural  selection  is  dis- 
credited— and  Dewar  and  Finn  have  relegated  it  to  a 
very  inferior  place  in  the  evolutionary  process — what 
are  the  determining  factors  in  evolution  ?  Within 
the  dawn  of  history,  although  we  know  of  species 
becoming  extinct,  do  we  know  of  a  single  new  species 
having  arisen  ?  It  is  here  open  to  any  Darwinian 
to  say :  "  You  admit  that  a  species  has  become 
extinct.  How  could  that  occur  except  through  the 
operation  of  "natural  selection"?  That  question  at 
once  takes  us  back  to  the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  which 
was  founded  upon  the  "  struggle  for  existence  "  owing 
to  the  excess  of  reproduction  and  the  growth  of  the 
species  beyond  the  food  supply.  "It  is  the  doctrine 
of  Malthus  applied  with  manifold  force  to  the  whole 
animal  and  vegetable  kingdom,"  said  Darwin.  This 
must  never  be  forgotten.  The  excessive  numbers  had 
to  "  struggle  for  existence."  This  brought  about  the 
' '  survival  of  the  fittest . ' '  The  struggle  caused ' '  favour- 
able mutations  "  to  appear,  these  were  perpetuated  ; 
new  and  stronger,  swift  or  more  cunning  species  arose, 
and  thus  the  method  of  evolution  was  proved.  But 
we  know  now  that  the  excess  of  reproduction  is  never 
allowed  to  reach  the  adult  stage  or  to  come  into 
competition  for  food  with  the  rest  of  the  species. 
"  The  cannibal  habit  of  the  male  "  has  regulated  and 
controlled  the  vast  excess  which  nature  has  always  in 
reserve  in  order  to  replace  any  sudden  or  gradual 
elimination  of  the  parents  which  may  be  brought 
about  by  famine,  pestilence  or  hostile  attack  of  any 
kind. 

A  species  may  become  extinct  through  a  hostile 
environment.  This  was  known  long  before  Darwin's 
day,  and  environment  was  the  explanation  given 


"  Natural  Selection  "  6 1 

before  he  propounded  "  natural  selection/'  in  order  to 
show  the  working  of  the  evolutionary  plan.  As  Dewar 
and  Finn  point  out,  the  great  mistake  of  the  early 
opponents  of  Darwin  was  in  confounding  evolution 
with  natural  selection.  As  in  men's  minds  evolution 
became  more  and  more  an  established  belief,  un- 
consciously, natural  selection  came  to  be  accepted 
simultaneously. 

We  are  compelled,  then,  to  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  our  knowledge  of  the  process  of  evolution  is  much 
as  it  was  before  Darwin  propounded  his  now  exploded 
hypothesis.  No  doubt  he  did  much  to  stimulate 
research,  and  it  may  even  be  admitted  that  he  has 
helped  the  advance  of  human  thought ;  but  the  fact 
remains  that  his  hypothesis  is  not  established,  and 
after  all  these  years  we  are  pretty  much  where  we  were 
as  to  the  method  of  the  evolutionary  plan. 

If  we  endeavour  to  sum  up  our  knowledge  in  this 
matter,  to  what  conclusion  do  we  come  ?  Firstly,  that 
of  Dewar  and  Finn  :  "  The  real  makers  of  species  are  the 
inherent  properties  of  protoplasm."  We  do  not  think  we 
ought  to  add,  "  and  the  laws  of  variation  and  heredity," 
as  we  are  too  profoundly  ignorant  of  these ;  and 
secondly,  that  we  are  carried  back,  through  the  force 
of  pure  reason,  to  the  argument  of  design,  having  its 
origin  in  a  Great  First  Cause,  which  alone  has  given 
laws  to  matter,  method  to  the  universe,  and  life  upon 
the  earth.  And  surely  it  is  time  to  accord  the  meed  of 
praise  to  Paulin,  who,  more  than  any  thinker  since 
Darwin,  has  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  men's  minds 
the  actual  phenomena  of  nature  in  regard  to  the  control 
of  the  excess  of  reproduction,  and  consequently  how 
unnecessary  is  the  proposition  of  a  "  struggle  for  exist- 
ence "  and  a  "  survival  of  the  fittest,"  which  formed 
the  basis  upon  which  rests  the  central  structure  of  the 
Darwinian  Theory — Natural  Selection. 


62  "  Natural  Selection  " 

It  is  indeed  no  small  gain  to  present-day  thought 
that  such  an  astute  and  accurate  observer  of  the  pheno- 
mena of  nature  as  Henri  Fabre  should  unhesitatingly 
state  his  disbelief  in  the  theory  of  natural  selection. 
He  resembles  Darwin  in  the  possession  of  the  greatest 
gifts  of  precise  and  detailed  observation  ;  unlike  him, 
however,  he  has  no  theory  to  establish.  His  observa- 
tion of  nature's  facts  and  methods  are  so  minute  that 
he  is  able  positively  to  demonstrate  the  absurdity  of  the 
conclusion  that  natural  selection  could  have  brought 
about  the  phenomena  which  he  has  been  able  to 
elucidate.  As  he  says  :  "  Voyez  d'abord,  vous  argu- 
menterez  aprez."  After  the  most  minute  observa- 
tion and  study,  he  is  able  to  declare  unhesitatingly 
that  the  animate  world  cannot  be  explained  by 
chemical  and  mechanical  formulae.  "  The  facts  that 
I  observe  are  of  such  a  kind  as  to  force  dissent  from 
Darwin's  theories."  And  in  a  noteworthy  passage  he 
affirms  that  "  variations  are  superficial ;  they  never 
affect  essentials."  This  declaration  is  one  of  the 
greatest  importance,  and  requires  serious  consideration 
in  that  it  is  an  affirmation  of  the  truth  of  our  thesis  of 
the  obliteration  of  all  variations  and  the  return  to  the 
average  type  as  the  generations  proceed.  And  it  is 
with  intense  satisfaction  from  the  point  of  view  of 
science  and  the  cause  of  truth  that  we  receive  the 
pronouncement  of  this  marvellous  observer,  whose 
knowledge  of  living  matter  and  instinctive  processes 
is  facile  princeps  :  "  The  more  I  observe,  the  more 
this  intelligence  shines  out  behind  the  mystery  of  things 
— a  sovereign  order,  controlling  matter." 

In  his  account  of  the  sand-wasp  and  the  wonderful 
process  by  which  it  slays  its  prey — the  caterpillar — in 
such  a  manner  that  it  will  be  rendered  motionless  but 
still  retain  its  vitality,  and  so  provide  a  fitting  nutrient 
for  the  egg  deposited  upon  it,  he  is  able  to  demonstrate 


"  Natural  Selection  "  63 

the  absurdity  of  the  idea  that  natural  selection  could 
have  produced  this  instinct.  It  quietly  stings  the  larva 
in  the  three  nerve  centres  of  the  thorax  and  in  the 
abdomen,  and  then  is  able  to  squeeze  in  the  head, 
further  resistance  being  now  impossible.  A  complete 
paralysis  is  produced  from  which  it  cannot  recover. 
It  is  then  carried  to  a  convenient  spot  and  there 
the  egg  is  deposited  and  finds  a  suitable  pabulum 
until  such  time  as  it  has  developed  to  maturity. 
Fabre  compares  the  skill  of  the  sand-wasp  to  that 
of  the  "desnucador"  in  South  America,  who,  by 
means  of  a  method  acquired  by  instruction  and 
constant  repetition,  is  enabled  to  kill  the  cattle  previous 
to  deportation,  one  after  another,  with  enormous 
rapidity.  Fabre  comments  on  this  comparison  in  the 
following  manner:1  "Now  here  is  the  sand- wasp,  a 
slayer  of  caterpillars  by  a  far  more  cunning  process. 
Where  are  the  professors  of  the  art  of  stinging  ?  There 
are  not  any.  When  the  wasp  rends  her  cocoon  and 
issues  from  under  ground,  her  predecessors  have  long 
ceased  to  live  :  she  herself  will  perish  without  seeing 
her  successors.  The  sand-wasp  is  born  a  finished 
'  desnucador/  even  as  we  are  born  feeders  at  the 
mothers'  breast.  The  nursling  uses  her  suction-pump, 
the  sand-wasp  her  dart,  without  ever  being  taught, 
and  both  are  past  masters  of  their  difficult  art  from  the 
first  attempt.  Here  we  have  instinct,  the  unconscious 
impulse  that  forms  an  essential  part  of  the  conditions 
of  life  and  is  handed  down  by  heredity  in  the  same 
way  as  the  rhythmic  action  of  the  heart  and  lungs." 

The  mechanist  school,  with  their  blind  dogmatism, 
have  a  rough  time  at  the  hands  of  this  keen  observer  : 
"  Given  half  a  dozen  cells,  a  bit  of  protoplasm,  and  a 
diagram  for  demonstration,  and  they  will  account  to 
you  for  everything.  The  organic  world,  the  intellectual 

1  "  English  Review,"  December,  1912. 


64 


"  Natural  Selection  " 


and  the  moral  world,  everything  derives  from  the 
original  cell  by  means  of  its  own  energies.  Instinct, 
roused  by  a  chance  action  that  has  proved  favourable 
to  the  animal,  is  an  acquired  habit ;  and  on  this  basis 
they  argue,  invoking  atavism,  the  struggle  for  life,  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  I  see  plenty  of  big  words,  but  I 
should  prefer  a  few  small  facts.  These  little  facts  I  have 
been  collecting  and  catechising  for  nearly  forty  years, 
and  their  replies  are  not  exactly  in  favour  of  current 
theories.  You  tell  me  that  instinct  is  an  acquired 
habit,  that  a  casual  circumstance  (chance),  propitious 
to  the  animals'  offspring,  was  the  first  to  prompt  it. 
Well,  I  avow  in  all  sincerity  that  this  is  asking  a  little 
too  much  of  chance.  When  the  difficulty  becomes  too 
pressing,  you  take  refuge  behind  the  mist  of  the  ages, 
you  retreat  into  the  shadows  of  the  past  as  far  as 
fancy  can  carry  you.  You  call  upon  Time,  the  factor 
of  which  we  have  so  little  at  our  disposal,  and  which 
for  that  very  reason  is  so  well  suited  to  hide  our 
whimsey.  Then  how  did  the  series  of  nine  stings  (the 
sand-wasp's)  at  nine  selected  points  emerge  from  the 
urn  of  chance  ?  When  I  am  driven  to  appeals  to 
infinity  in  time,  I  am  very  much  afraid  of  running  up 
against  absurdity.  But,  you  say,  there  was  a  weeding- 
out  through  natural  selection,  and  instinct,  as  we 
know  it,  developed  gradually,  thanks  to  the  accumula- 
tion of  individual  capacities  added  to  those  handed 
down  by  heredity.  The  argument  is  erroneous ; 
instinct  handed  down  by  degrees  is  flagrantly  impos- 
sible— the  wasp  must  excel  in  it  from  the  start  or  leave 
the  thing  alone.  Two  conditions  are,  in  fact,  absolutely 
essential :  that  it  should  be  possible  for  the  insect  to 
drag  home  and  store  a  quarry  which  greatly  exceeds 
itself  in  size  and  strength  ;  and  that  it  should  be 
possible  for  the  newly  hatched  grub  to  gnaw  peacefully 
in  its  narrow  cell  a  live  and  comparatively  enormous 


"  Natural  Selection  "  65 

prey.  The  suppression  of  movement  in  the  victim  is  the 
only  means  of  realising  these  conditions,  and  this 
suppression  to  be  complete  requires  sundry  dagger 
thrusts,  one  in  each  nerve  centre.  If  the  paralysis 
and  the  torpor  be  not  sufficient,  the  grey- worm  will  defy 
the  efforts  of  the  huntress,  will  struggle  desperately 
on  the  journey,  and  will  not  reach  the  destination  ; 
if  the  immobility  be  not  complete,  the  egg  fixed  at  a 
given  spot  on  the  worm  will  perish  under  the  con- 
tortions of  the  giant.  There  is  no  mean  admissible, 
no  half-success.  Either  the  caterpillar  is  treated 
according  to  rule  and  the  wasp's  family  is  perpetuated, 
or  else  the  victim  is  only  partially  paralysed  and  the 
wasp's  offspring  dies  in  the  egg. 

"  Yielding  to  the  inexorable  logic  of  facts,  we  will 
therefore  admit  that  the  first  sand-wasp  on  capturing 
a  grey-worm  to  feed  her  larva  operated  on  the  patient 
by  the  exact  method  in  use  to-day.  She  seized  the 
animal  by  the  skin  of  the  neck,  stabbed  it  underneath, 
opposite  each  of  the  nerve  centres,  and  if  the  monster 
threatened  further  resistance  munched  its  brain,  for 
an  unskilled  murderess,  doing  her  work  in  a  perfunctory 
and  haphazard  fashion,  would  leave  no  successor,  as 
the  rearing  of  the  egg  would  become  impossible.  Save 
for  the  perfection  of  her  surgical  powers,  the  slayer  of 
fat  caterpillars  would  die  in  the  first  generation.  What 
chance  has  the  operator  of  striking  that  one  particular 
spot  were  her  lancet  wielded  without  method  ?  The 
chance  is  ludicrous.  It  is  one  against  the  countless 
number  of  points  whereof  the  caterpillar's  body  is 
made  up.  And  yet,  according  to  the  theorists,  it  is  on 
this  chance  that  the  sand-wasp's  future  depends. 
What  an  edifice  to  balance  on  the  point  of  a  needle  ! 
.  .  .  The  egg,  laid  on  its  (the  larva's)  flank  then,  will 
develop  without  risk.  It  is  at  most  but  a  half  of  what 
is  absolutely  necessary.  Another  egg  is  indispensable 


66  "  Natural  Selection  " 

to  complete  the  future  couple  and  ensure  offspring. 
Therefore  within  a  few  hours  a  second  sting  must  be 
given  as  successful  as  the  first.  The  sand- wasp  does 
not  know,  does  not  suspect,  that  she  inserted  a  sting 
opposite  a  nerve  centre  rather  than  anywhere  else. 
As  there  was  nothing  that  led  her  to  choose,  she  acted 
at  random.  Nevertheless,  if  we  are  to  take  the  theory  of 
instinct  seriously,  we  shall  have  to  admit  that  this 
fortuitous  action,  though  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
the  animal,  left  a  lasting  trace,  and  made  so  great  an 
impression  that,  henceforth,  the  wily  stratagem, 
which  produces  paralysis  by  injuring  the  nerve  centres, 
is  transmissible  by  heredity.  The  sand-wasp's  successor, 
by  some  prodigious  privilege,  will  inherit  what  the 
mother  did  not  possess. 

"  If  on  her  side  the  wasp  excels  in  her  art,  it  is 
because  she  is  born  to  follow  it,  because  she  is  endowed 
not  only  with  tools,  but  also  with  the  knack  of  using 
them.  And  this  gift  is  primal,  perfect  from  the  outset ; 
the  past  has  added  nothing  to  it,  the  future  will  add 
nothing  to  it.  As  it  was,  so  it  is,  and  will  be.  If  you 
see  in  it  naught  but  an  acquired  habit,  which  heredity 
hands  down  and  improves,  then  at  least  explain  to  us 
why  man,  who  represents  the  highest  stage  in  the  evolution 
of  your  primitive  plasms,  is  deprived  of  the  like  privilege. 
A  paltry  insect  bequeaths  its  skill  to  its  offspring  and 
man  does  not.  What  an  immense  advantage  it  would 
be  to  humanity  if  we  who  belong  to  it  were  less  liable 
to  sea  the  worker  succeeded  by  the  idler,  the  man  of 
talent  by  the  idiot !  And  why  has  not  the  protoplasm, 
evolving  by  its  own  energy  from  one  being  into  another, 
kept  also  for  us  a  little  of  that  wonderful  power  which 
it  has  bestowed  so  lavishly  upon  the  insect  ?  The  answer 
is  that  apparently  in  this  world  cellular  evolution  is 
not  everything. 

"  For  these  reasons  among  others,  I  reject  the  modern 


"  Natural  Selection  "  67 

theory  of  instinct.  I  see  in  it  no  more  than  an  in- 
genious game,  in  which  the  observer,  the  man  grappling 
with  reality,  fails  to  find  a  serious  explanation  of 
anything  whatsoever  that  he  sees." 

This  long  extract  from  the  works  of  the  master  of 
instinctive  processes  was  necessary  in  order  to  arrest 
the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  fact  that  Fabre 
refuses  to  be  hide-bound  by  any  theory,  however 
great  its  author  may  have  been  or  numerous  its  sup- 
porters. It  is  no  small  matter,  indeed,  it  is  of  prime 
importance,  that  such  an  observer  should  pinion  the 
Darwinian  fallacy,  and  hold  it  up  to  public  view. 
The  belief  in  natural  selection  has  endured  a  long 
time,  but  the  end  is  in  sight.  It  cannot  withstand 
such  onslaughts  for  a  much  longer  period.  The  com- 
plete study  of  the  phenomena  of  nature  is  shattering 
the  foundations  of  the  very  theory  by  which  the  various 
species  of  animate  life  were  believed  to  have  their 
form  and  being,  their  instincts  and  their  faculties. 
We  are  at  last  coming  to  see  that  the  religious  concept 
of  the  universe  rests  upon  scientific  data,  while  that  of 
the  mechanist  school  is  being  gradually  undermined 
through  the  persevering  study  of  those  very  phenomena 
on  which  it  was  supposed  to  be  established.  Strict 
mechanical  sequence  of  cause  and  effect  no  doubt 
operates  in  the  sphere  of  inanimate  nature,  and  our 
mechanist  philosophers  have  endeavoured  to  extend 
its  sphere  over  the  entire  universe.  Indeed,  Professor 
Schafer  would  have  us  believe  that  there  is  no  division, 
that  the  animate  world,  even  up  to  the  highest 
intellectual  and  physical  manifestations  of  humanity, 
is  but  a  further  modification  of  energy  and  matter  in 
the  inanimate  world.  Fabre  alone,  were  no  other 
authority  to  speak,  has  demonstrated  that  instinct  is 
something  given,  which  cannot  be  explained  in  physico- 
chemical  terms.  Similarly,  Bergson  has  shown  that 


68  "Natural  Selection" 

the  simple  cell  can  do  things  inexplicable  by  any  law, 
e.g.  a  living  cell  in  a  root  fibre  selects  what  it  chooses  as 
nourishment  while  living  :  as  soon  as  life  goes,  that 
power  goes.  In  other  words,  life  has  made  a  new 
beginning  in  the  world — it  can  do  things  that  mechan- 
ism and  chemistry  will  not  account  for.  And  there 
will  be  few  of  unbiased  mind  who  will  not  agree  with 
this  Nestor  among  naturalists  that  instinct  was  never 
the  result  of  experience,  and  that  natural  selection 
could  not  possibly  have  been  the  cause  of  its  origin. 
Instinct  is  there  from  the  first,  let  the  mechanists 
explain  it  how  they  may.  Certainly  the  disciples  of 
Darwin  have  failed  to  do  so.  And  this  conclusion 
helps  us  on  towards  the  spiritual  evolution  of  humanity. 
As  Fabre  himself  has  said  in  one  grand  forecast : 
"  Mankind,  alone  capable  of  emerging  from  the  slough 
of  the  instincts,  is  bringing  equity  into  being,  is 
creating  it  slowly,  as  its  conception  grows  clearer. 
Out  of  the  sacred  rushlight,  so  flickering  as  yet  but 
gaining  strength  from  age  to  age,  man  will  make  a 
flaming  torch  that  will  put  an  end  among  us  to  the 
principle  of  the  brutes,  and,  one  day,  utterly  change  the 
face  of  society." 


Chapter  V 
Malthusianism  and  the  Law  of  Population 

WE  have  proved  that  in  all  prolific  herbivora  and 
carnivora  the  checks  upon  increase  of  popula- 
tion are  known  positively.  We  must  now  go  a  little 
further  and  ask  if  there  are  any  checks  to  the  excess 
of  reproduction  in  the  case  of  the  "genus  homo 
sapiens." 

We  must  recall  again  Darwin's  words  in  defining  his 
struggle  for  existence  :  "  Hence,  as  more  individuals 
are  produced  than  can  possibly  survive,  there  must, 
in  every  case,  be  a  struggle  for  existence,  either  one 
individual  with  another  of  the  same  species  or  with  the 
individuals  of  distinct  species,  or  with  the  physical 
conditions  of  life.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  Malthus  applied 
with  manifold  force  to  the  whole  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdom  ;  for  in  this  case  there  can  be  no  artificial 
increase  of  food  and  no  prudential  restraint  from 
marriage.  .  .  .  The  causes  which  check  the  natural 
tendency  of  each  species  to  increase  are  most  obscure. 
Look  at  the  most  vigorous  species :  by  as  much  as  it 
swarms  in  numbers,  by  so  much  will  it  tend  to  increase 
still  further.  We  know  not  exactly  what  the  checks 
are,  even  in  a  single  instance." 

As  we  have  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  we  know 
positively  the  checks  in  the  prolific  species,  and  that 
they  act  automatically  and  without  internecine  strife, 
and  that  necessarily  the  theory  of  natural  selection 
can  be  supported  no  longer.  But  we  must  now  consider 
how  the  prolific  "  genus  homo  sapiens  "  is  affected 

69 


70  Malthusianism  and  the 

by  these  considerations.  It  is  quite  evident  that  the 
checks  of  the  prolific  herbivora  and  carnivora  cannot 
apply  to  man.  From  the  quotation  given  above  it  is 
evident  that  the  "  doctrine  of  Malthus  "  was  adopted 
by  Darwin  and  extended,  in  that  he  applied  it  mis- 
takenly to  the  "  whole  animal  and  vegetable  kingdom." 

The  doctrine  of  Malthus,  to  put  it  briefly,  is  simply 
that  the  growth  of  population  tends  to  outrun  the 
means  of  subsistence.  He  compared  the  potential 
increase  of  population  with  the  potential  increase  of 
food  supply  obtained  from  the  production  of  the  soil ; 
and  enunciated  the  famous  formula :  that  whereas  the 
food  production  of  the  soil,  even  under  the  most 
favourable  circumstances,  cannot  be  supposed  to  in- 
crease in  successive  generations  in  more  than  an 
arithmetical  ratio,  or  as  I,  2,  3, 4,  5,  6,  population  is  able 
to  increase  in  successive  generations  in  a  geometrical 
ratio,  or  as  I,  2,  4,  8,  16,  32,  doubling  itself  in  the 
course  of  each  generation;  and  deduced  the  general 
conclusion  that  population  tends  to  increase  faster 
than  the  food  supply.  If  this  were  true,  then  ulti- 
mately there  could  be  nothing  in  store  for  the  race  but 
extinction.  Paulin  deals  with  this  matter,  and  proves 
to  a  demonstration  that  the  population  does  not  tend 
to  outrun  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  that  the 
accomplishment  of  such  disaster  as  Malthus  forecasts 
is  impossible — just  as  impossible  as  in  the  case  of  the 
carnivora. 

War,  famine,  and  pestilence  have  been  great  de- 
stroyers of  large  numbers  of  men,  and  were  believed  to 
be  the  checks  which  had  operated  in  the  prevention  of 
excess  of  population  in  the  past  history  of  mankind. 
Experience  and  observation  abundantly  testify  that 
where  population  has  increased,  the  means  of  living 
have  increased  in  an  equal  degree,  and  in  almost  every 
case  in  a  much  greater  degree.  That  this  must  neces- 


Law  of  Population  71 

sarily  be  the  case  will  be  clearly  demonstrated  in 
accordance  with  the  universal  law  which  governs  the 
movements  of  populations,  and  by  means  of  which 
Paulin  has  been  able  to  confute  absolutely  the  theories 
of  Malthus. 

He  deals  with  the  case  of  Ireland  and  India,  which 
followers  of  Malthus  had  adduced  as  specially  sup- 
porting the  dogma  that  population  tends  to  increase 
faster  than  the  means  of  subsistence.  They  regard  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  population  of  Ireland  between 
1690  and  1846,  and  the  poverty  of  the  people  at  the 
close  of  that  period,  as  exemplifying  the  operation  of 
the  principle  of  Malthus,  whereas  a  knowledge  of  the 
facts  would  show  that  the  truth  lay  in  the  opposite 
direction.  In  the  course  of  a  century  and  a  half  the 
numerical  growth  of  the  Irish  people  far  exceeded  that 
of  any  other  nation  in  the  old  world  in  a  similar 
period  of  time.  In  1846  it  was  eightfold  that  of  1690, 
but  abundant  evidence  can  be  got  to  prove  that  the 
people  were  much  better  off  at  the  end  than  at  the 
beginning  of  that  period,  or  indeed  at  any  previous 
period  of  Irish  history.  In  1690  the  brief  dream  of 
Celtic  independence  and  predominance  was  for  ever 
dispelled,  and  the  serf  was  returned  to  his  serfdom  and 
his  potato  patch ;  and  the  hand  of  his  Saxon  master 
pressed  cruelly  and  heavily  upon  him  ;  but  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  settled  peace  led  to  the  resumption  of 
agricultural  industry.  There  was  much  agrarian  out- 
rage and  disturbance,  but  the  people  began  to  multiply, 
and  continued  to  do  so  in  an  unexampled  manner.  At 
the  beginning  Ireland  was,  for  the  most  part,  waste 
land,  but,  as  a  result  of  the  settled  peace,  room  was 
constantly  being  made  for  new  inhabitants  by  the 
reclamation  of  the  disused  land  and  the  extension  of 
cultivation.  Ireland  was  mainly  pastoral  to  begin 
with,  but  when  the  great  natural  fertility  of  the  soil 


72  Malthusianism  and  the 

was  discovered  the  people  increasingly  applied  them- 
selves to  tillage,  and  this  change  in  agricultural  method 
— from  pastoral  to  tillage — combined  with  the  continual 
accretion  from  waste  land,  increased  largely  and  rapidly 
the  means  of  subsistence.  As  the  area  under  cultiva- 
tion was  extended  it  was  portioned  into  farms,  so  that 
the  young  peasants  had  no  difficulty  in  making  homes 
for  themselves,  and  were  thus  enabled  to  marry  at  an 
early  age.  The  superabundant  population  of  Ireland 
was  in  no  way  due  to  the  operation  of  the  theory  of 
Malthus.  There  took  place  in  Ireland  what  almost 
invariably  happens  where  population  is  increasing,  an 
exemplification  of  the  fact  that  the  means  of  living 
tends  to  increase  faster  than  population ;  for,  whereas 
in  a  century  and  a  half  the  population  had  grown 
eightfold,  the  means  of  subsistence  had  grown  from 
twelve  to  twentyfold. 

In  dealing  with  India,  the  disciples  of  Malthus  and 
all  who  believe  his  theory  as  the  impregnable  rock 
of  the  doctrine  of  natural  selection  speak  of  it  as  a 
striking  instance  of  the  evils  wrought  by  a  systematic 
attempt  to  thwart  the  operation  of  the  checks  by 
which  nature  prevents  over-population.  They  lament 
the  mischief  caused  by  the  benevolent  British  regime 
— first,  in  attempting  by  sanitary  means  to  lessen  the 
mortality  from  smallpox,  cholera,  and  plague ; 
secondly,  by  preventing  inter-tribal  wars  with  their 
consequent  depopulation  ;  thirdly,  by  the  stamping 
out  of  such  customs  as  Suttee,  Thuggism,  and  in- 
fanticide. They  submit  that  these  measures  have 
prevented  the  due  working  of  the  laws  ordained  by 
nature  to  act  as  checks  upon  the  increase  of  population, 
and  accordingly,  in  the  course  of  a  century,  the  census 
has  grown  from  150  to  300  millions. 

Without  doubt  the  British  Raj  has  diminished  the 
mortality  of  the  inhabitants  in  many  ways.  This  is 


Law  of  Population  73 

very  true,  but  the  increase  is  due  much  more  to  the  fact 
that  the  pax  Britannica  has  given  security  to  the  gains 
of  agricultural  and  mechanical  industry.  The  resources 
of  the  country  have  been  developed  by  railways  and 
canals  and  vast  irrigation  works.  The  latter  fertilise 
large  districts  which  were  formerly  waste  lands  and 
secure  large  and  populous  districts  from  seasons  of 
desolating  drought.  By  this  development  of  industry 
the  average  condition  of  the  native  has  been  raised  to 
a  much  higher  standard  than  ever  before.  This  is  the 
testimony  of  all  competent  and  intelligent  observers 
who  have  spent  years  in  our  great  Dependency.  The 
greater  ease  of  living  is  shown  in  the  improved  quality 
of  their  clothing,  of  their  domestic  furnishings,  and 
every  necessary  article  of  daily  use.  So  much  is  this 
the  case  that  we  are  warranted  in  saying  that  if,  under 
the  shelter  of  the  pax  Britannica,  the  population  has 
grown  twofold,  its  wealth  has  increased  not  less  than 
threefold.  An  increasing  population  is  ever  an  indica- 
tion that  man  is  energising  in  an  increasing  degree, 
with  the  general  result  that  each  generation  surpasses 
its  predecessor  in  the  relation  of  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence to  the  population. 

We  must  now  consider  the  positive  checks  which 
Malthus  assumed  to  be  nature's  ordinance  for  the 
prevention  of  the  undue  growth  of  population.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  discuss  the  preventive  or  prudential 
check  of  moral  restraint  which  consisted  in  a  man's 
abstention  from  marriage  until  he  had  attained  a 
reasonable  prospect  of  maintaining  a  wife  and  family 
in  the  future,  for  Malthus  states  that  he  saw  little  trace 
of  the  action  of  such  a  check  ;  and  whatever  hopes  we 
may  entertain  of  its  action  in  the  future,  it  has  un- 
doubtedly in  past  ages  operated  with  inconsiderable 
force.  He  says  :  "  The  immediate  check  may  be 
stated  to  consist  in  all  those  customs  and  all  those 


74  Malthusianism  and  the 

diseases  which  seem  to  be  generated  by  a  scarcity  of 
the  means  of  subsistence,  and  all  those  causes  inde- 
pendent of  this  scarcity,  whether  of  a  moral  or  physical 
nature,  which  tend  prematurely  to  weaken  or  destroy 
the  human  frame."  .  .  .  "  The  positive  checks  to  popu- 
lation are  extremely  various,  and  include  every  cause, 
whether  arising  from  vice  or  misery,  which  in  any  degree 
contribute  to  shorten  the  natural  duration  of  human 
life.  Under  this  head,  therefore,  may  be  enumerated 
all  the  unwholesome  occupations,  severe  labour,  and 
exposure  to  the  seasons,  extreme  poverty,  bad  nursing 
of  children,  great  towns,  excess  of  all  kinds,  the  whole 
train  of  diseases  and  epidemics,  war,  plague,  and 
famine.  .  .  .  On  examining  these  obstacles  to  the 
increase  of  population,  which  I  have  classed  under  the 
heads  of  preventive  and  positive  checks,  it  will  appear 
that  they  are  all  resolvable  into  moral  restraint,  vice, 
and  misery." 

In  his  reply  to  Mr.  Godwin,  who  differed  from  his 
view,  Malthus  writes  :  "I  believe  that  Mr.  Godwin 
would  find  it  difficult  to  name  any  check  which  in  past 
ages  has  contributed  to  keep  down  the  population  to 
the  level  of  the  means  of  subsistence  that  does  not 
fairly  come  under  some  form  of  vice  or  misery  "  ;  and, 
thereafter,  he  eliminates,  as  I  have  already  shown,  the 
theory  of  moral  restraint  as  an  operative  check. 

Here  we  must  remember  that  Darwin  incorporated 
this  part  of  the  Malthusian  theory  and  extended  its 
operation  over  the  whole  field  of  animated  nature. 
As  he  said,  and  as  has  been  already  quoted  :  "  It  is  the 
doctrine  of  Malthus  applied  with  manifold  force  to  the 
whole  animal  and  vegetable  kingdom  "  ;  and  this  he 
called  the  "  struggle  for  existence,"  resulting  in  the 
"survival  of  the  fittest,"  or  "natural  selection." 

Unfortunately  Malthus  did  not  possess  the  means  of 
ascertaining  the  movements  of  population  and  their 


Law  of  Population  75 

causes ;  the  relation  of  the  death-rate  to  the  birth-rate, 
which  makes  a  high  mortality  in  a  community  to  be 
accompanied  by  a  high  birth-rate,  and  a  low  mortality 
by  a  low  birth-rate.  He  perceived  misery  and  miserable 
conditions  of  life  everywhere,  and  causes  hostile  to 
human  existence,  and  he  concluded  that  by  these  con- 
ditions alone  was  mankind  prevented  from  over- 
population and  outgrowth  of  the  means  of  subsistence. 
The  immorality  of  this  theory  drew  many  fierce  attacks, 
but  the  writers  of  these,  like  the  clergy  in  their  original 
denunciation  of  the  Darwinian  theory  of  natural 
selection,  wanted  the  scientific  data  with  which  to 
support  their  statements,  and  thus  it  was  that  ere  long 
the  public  settled  down  to  the  belief  that  it  was  founded 
on  an  irrefutable  basis.  Thus  it  was  that  Macaulay, 
voicing  the  opinion  of  his  contemporaries,  wrote : 
"  The  question  is  not,  is  the  doctrine  immoral,  but,  is 
the  doctrine  true  ?  "  If  it  were  indeed  true  that  by 
only  "  vice  and  misery  "  can  the  population  be  kept 
in  check,  and  that  this  constitutes  the  ordinance  of 
nature  by  which  alone  the  human  race  can  keep 
within  the  limits  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  to 
which  alone  we  must  look  for  its  preservation,  then 
would  the  lot  of  humanity  be  most  deplorable,  deprived 
as  it  would  be  of  all  hope  of  a  brighter  and  happier 
future ;  and  the  man  who  has  endeavoured  to 
ameliorate  the  conditions  of  human  life,  in  the  way  of 
improved  sanitation  and  building,  supply  of  open 
spaces,  creation  of  garden  cities,  shorter  hours  of 
labour,  the  removal  of  all  conditions  noxious  to  life  in 
many  trades,  the  arrest  of  disease  and  pestilence, 
could  not  be  considered  to  be  a  benefactor  of  the 
race.  Lord  Lister,  whom  all  the  world  honours  as  the 
greatest  saviour  of  the  race  from  disease  and  suffer- 
ing and  death — if  the  Malthusian  theory  were  true — 
could  only  be  considered  a  traitor  to  humanity  in 


76 


Malthusianism  and  the 


attempting  to  counteract  and  neutralise  the  beneficent 
and  necessary  ordinance  of  nature.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  younger  Pitt,  under  the  influence  of  this 
theory,  was  actually  dissuaded  from  carrying  out  a 
poor  law  scheme  which  he  had  prepared. 

During  the  last  century  the  positive  checks  of 
Malthus  have  been  gradually  eliminated,  with  the 
result  that  there  are  few  European  countries  in  which 
the  average  duration  of  life  has  not  been  doubled.  In 
Sweden,  since  Malthus  wrote,  the  average  has  length- 
ened twofold,  so  that,  while  to  a  given  population  200 
died  annually,  each  year  only  100  die  now.  The 
nineteenth  century  has  witnessed  a  marvellous  change 
in  improved  conditions  of  life  generally — in  comfort, 
food,  and  clothing ;  and  this  has  been  invariably  accom- 
panied by  a  lengthening  in  every  country  of  the  average 
span  of  life.  This  is  due  not  only  to  a  reduction  in 
infantile  mortality,  but  vital  statistics  show  that  this 
applies  to  all  ages  of  life  in  a  corresponding  proportion. 

I  will  now  submit  a  table  drawn  up  by  Paulin  which 
gives  for  each  country  the  average  life  of  its  people  in 
the  decennium  1876-85,  and  also  in  the  eight  years 
1896-1903  ;  this  latter  year  being  the  last  which  was 
available  to  him  at  the  time  of  writing.  The  table  will 
show  the  remarkable  increase  in  the  average  span  of 
life  in  so  short  a  period,  which  would  be  almost  in- 
credible if  it  were  not  attested  beyond  question.  The 
forces  of  civilisation  have  undoubtedly  operated  with 
greater  intensity  than  ever  before,  and  resulted  not 
only  in  increased  duration  of  life  but  in  improved 
sanitation,  greater  comfort,  and  material  well-being. 
In  this  way  the  social  significance  of  the  table  can 
hardly  be  over-estimated.  It  will  be  a  revelation  to 
many  that  such  differences  should  exist  between  the 
average  life -terms  of  the  different  countries.  There  are 
few  who  would  believe  it  possible  that  the  average  life- 


Law  of  Population 


77 

term  of  one  European  people  could  exceed  that  of 
another  by  a  quarter  of  a  century. 


IOOO 

1876-1885. 

1896-1903. 

Addition 
made  to  life- 
term 
1880-1900. 

Deaths 
per  looo 
annually. 

Average 
life-term 
1876-1885. 

Deaths 
per  looo 
annually. 

Average 
life-term 
1896-1903. 

Years. 

Days. 

Years. 

Days. 

Years. 

Days. 

England   .  . 

2O-I 

49 

274 

I7-I 

58 

175 

8 

286 

Scotland  .  . 

2O-1 

49 

274 

I7-6 

56 

299 

7 

25 

Ireland  *  .  .  . 

18-1 

55 

91 



Denmark    . 

18-9 

52 

332 

16-4 

60 

55 

7 

68 

Norway    .  . 

16-7 

59 

321 

15-3 

65 

131 

5 

176 

Sweden  .  .  . 

I7-9 

55 

3I6 

15-9 

62 

326 

7 

10 

Austria  .  .  . 

30-37 

32 

338 

25-2 

39 

172 

6 

199 

Hungary  .  . 

34'6 

28 

329 

27-1 

36 

329 

8 

— 

Switzerland 

22-3 

44 

308 

17-9 

55 

316 

ii 

8 

German 

Empire 

25-9 

38 

222 

20-9 

47 

309 

9 

87 

Prussia   .  .  . 

25-4 

39 

94 

20-5 

48 

285 

9 

191 

Nether- 

lands 

22-2 

45 

16 

17-8 

56 

65 

ii 

49 

Belgium.  .  . 

2I-I 

47 

83 

17-9 

55 

3i8 

8 

223 

France    .  .  . 

22-3 

44 

308 

2O-2 

49 

184 

4 

241 

Italy   

28-3 

35 

122 

22'5 

44 

162 

9 

40 

In  the  half-century  previous  to  1903  the  decline  in 
the  mortality  of  children  under  five  years  of  age  has 
amounted  to  19-2  per  cent,  while  the  decline  in  the 
general  mortality  of  the  country  is  28-7  per  cent, 
showing  that  the  former  has  not  kept  pace  with  the 
reduction  in  the  general  mortality  of  the  country. 

It  must  surely  now  be  evident  to  every  intelligent 
observer  that  the  heavy  mortality  in  the  past  from 
war,  pestilence,  and  famine  in  no  way  operated  in  the 
direction  of  keeping  down  or  decreasing  the  population 
of  any  country.  Populations  were  not  kept  down  or 

1  Up  to  1881  the  registration  of  Ireland  was  very  defective. 


78 


Malthusianism  and  the 


restrained  in  their  increase  by  all  those  causes  "  which 
tend  prematurely  to  weaken  and  destroy  the  human 
frame."  As  Paulin  remarks  :  "  Even  in  Europe  the 
checks  of  Malthus  have  since  his  day  undergone  an 
elimination,  and  where  not  an  elimination  a  loss  of 
energy  that  consigns  the  conception  of  them  as 
nature's  ordinance  for  keeping  down  and  within  due 
limits  the  population  of  the  globe  to  the  limbo  of 
baseless  and  mistaken  theories." 

We  must  now  deal  with  Paulin's  "  Law  of  Popula- 
tion " — a  universal  law,  which  governs  every  move- 
ment of  population,  whether  of  retardation  or  pro- 
gression. It  is  neither  intricate  nor  abstruse.  To  put 
it  briefly,  it  depends  upon  the  ability  of  the  individuals 
of  the  community  to  marry,  and  this  again  depends  on 
the  state  of  the  labour  market.  When  there  is  stagna- 
tion in  the  labour  market,  there  are  no  new  posts  being 
created  which  young  men  can  fill.  There  are  only 
those  rendered  vacant  by  the  death  of  their  seniors,  so 
that  very  few  acquire  sufficient  means  to  enable  them 
to  marry,  and  in  these  circumstances  we  find  that  the 
population  does  not  increase,  the  birth-rate  doing  no 
more  than  keeping  pace  with  the  death-rate. 

When  industrial  activity  is  at  its  height  things 
are  very  different.  New  posts  of  employment  are 
being  constantly  created,  which  enable  young  men 
entering  into  occupation  of  these  to  marry.  Soon 
the  birth-rate  goes  up  and  keeps  well  ahead  of  the 
death-rate.  Thus  it  is  that  cycles  of  trade  activity,1 
which  occur  with  periodic  regularity,  and  are  be- 
lieved to  be  the  result  chiefly  of  excessive  industrial 
competition — have,  as  accompaniments,  an  increased 
marriage  and  birth-rate.  When  the  sources  of  in- 
dustry are  being  sapped  by  permanent  causes,  the  effect 

1  Good  and  bad  harvests  would  seem  to  directly  affect  trade  for 
good  and  evil  respectively. 


Law  of  Population  79 

is  demonstrated  more  certainly  still.  Many  posts  of 
employment  are  rendered  vacant  by  employers  being 
unable  to  maintain  them.  The  demand  of  the  labour 
market  is  thus  reduced  and,  year  after  year,  fewer 
labourers  are  employed.  Accordingly,  the  number  of 
young  men  who  are  enabled  to  obtain  employment  by 
succeeding  to  posts  rendered  vacant  by  death  tends  to 
grow  smaller,  and  thus  the  marrying  power  of  the 
community  is  curtailed  until  the  birth-rate  actually 
falls  below  the  death-rate,  and  the  population  dwindles ; 
the  standard  of  living  tends  to  deteriorate  ;  employers 
are  no  longer  able  to  offer  the  large  wages  they  did, 
while  labourers  compete  with  each  other  to  obtain  such 
wages  as  employers  can  afford. 

A  man  cannot  enter  into  the  wedded  state  unless  he 
possesses  means  of  subsistence  which  suffice  for  himself 
and  his  wife,  and  this  subsistence  must  come  in  some 
form  or  another  from  the  labour  market.  Accordingly, 
whoever  is  in  possession  of  means  to  enable  him  to  marry 
— from  the  King  to  the  humblest  labourer — whether 
he  obtains  these  from  the  labour  of  his  own  hands  or  by 
the  industry  of  others,  may  be  said  to  occupy  a  post  of 
employment  that  places  marriage  within  his  reach. 
Even  thieves  and  burglars  must  be  placed  in  this 
category,  for  if  they  marry  it  is  because  their  gains 
suffice  for  the  married  life.  Now  and  again  imprudent 
marriages  do  occur.  The  means  of  subsistence  are  not 
visible.  But  the  percentage  of  these  is  so  small  that  it 
does  not  affect  the  general  law  nor  interfere  with  the 
general  result.  What  is  sufficient  means  upon  which 
to  marry  for  one  man  may  be  quite  insufficient  for 
another.  It  all  depends  upon  the  social  scale  in  which 
he  finds  himself.  The  law  is  that  a  man  does  not  marry 
until  he  has  acquired  means  which  will  enable  him,  in 
his  degree,  to  marry.  This  law  must  not  be  confounded 
with  Malthus's  check  of  moral  restraint.  It  is  a  law 


8o  Malthusianism  and  the 

that  must  be  obeyed,  to  whose  dictates  the  non-moral 
as  well  as  the  moral  must  conform. 

Malthus,  however,  not  perceiving  the  operation  of 
this  law,  which  is  manifoldly  visible  to  any  present-day 
student  of  the  statistical  information  supplied  by  the 
bureaux  of  Christendom,  entertained  the  belief  that  the 
majority  of  marriages  which  took  place  were  unaccom- 
panied by  due  reflection  on  the  part  of  those  marrying 
as  to  whether  they  had  a  reasonable  prospect  of  being 
able  to  maintain  a  wife  and  family  in  the  future. 
Accordingly  he  held  that  the  neglect  of  this  check  of 
moral  restraint  was  the  main  cause  of  the  tendency  to 
over-population,  which  called  for  the  action  of  his 
positive  checks  to  overcome  it ;  for,  as  he  said,  "  Moral 
restraint,  whatever  hopes  we  may  entertain  of  its 
action  in  the  future,  has  acted  in  the  past  history  of  the 
race  with  inconsiderable  force." 

The  young  working-man  marries  when  his  wage 
suffices,  as  a  matter  of  experience,  to  maintain  a  wife 
and  family.  This  necessarily  implies  maintenance  of 
average  health  in  order  that  his  wage  may  be  constant. 
This,  however,  cannot  be  assured  to  him,  but  on  the 
average  he  has  a  fair  prospect  of  securing  it.  Were  it 
otherwise  he  could  never  face  marriage  at  all.  But  the 
working-man,  justified  as  he  is,  in  the  light  of  experi- 
ence, of  cherishing  this  confidence,  is  nevertheless  in- 
capable of  contemplating  marriage  until  he  is  actually 
in  receipt  of  a  living  wage  and  has  assurance  of  its 
continuity.  The  labour  market  is  supported  by  a 
constant  succession  of  young  men  to  posts  vacated  by 
death,  debility,  and  age,  or  by  those  who  have  emi- 
grated ;  and  in  addition  there  are  always  sufficient 
young  men  to  fill  posts  created  by  the  expansion  of 
industry. 

Most  young  men  marry  as  soon  as  they  attain  a 
position  which  enables  them  to  do  so,  but  it  generally 


Law  of  Population  81 


happens  that  marriage  is  deferred  for  some  time  after 
the  necessary  post  has  been  secured  owing  to  the 
necessity  of  saving  enough  to  pay  for  furniture  and 
wedding  expenses.  The  first  three  years  after  entry 
into  such  posts  are  those  in  which  the  greater  number 
of  marriages  occur.  This  fact  is  revealed  to  the 
statistical  expert  by  the  marriage  returns  of  the  years 
following  the  outbreak  of  a  devastating  pestilence  or  a 
sanguinary  war.  In  1866  the  mortality  of  Austria  was 
raised  to  a  great  height  by  a  visitation  of  cholera  and 
a  war  with  Prussia :  from  29-5  per  1000  in  the  preceding 
decade,  the  mortality  rose  in  that  year  to  40-9  per  1000. 
The  total  increase  of  deaths  above  the  normal  was 
230,000.  Consequently,  a  large  number  of  posts  of 
employment  were  vacated,  and  immediately  filled  by 
young  men,  with  the  result  that  the  marriage-rate  in 
the  four  years  following  rose  from  an  average  of  82-5 
per  1000  to  97-5,  the  largest  number  being  in  the  third 
year  after  the  pestilence,  and  amounting  to  103-5  Per 
1000  of  population. 

Some  men  defer  marrying  for  several  years  after 
they  become  able  to  do  so  ;  some  never  marry  at  all ; 
but  the  principles  of  human  action  are  much  the  same 
everywhere,  and  the  result  is  the  established  ratio 
between  the  number  of  marriages,  births,  and  deaths 
in  a  community.  Such  questions  as  illegitimacy,  the 
relative  fecundity  of  different  peoples,  and  the  marry- 
ing ages  of  different  classes  have  no  effect  on  the  general 
movement  of  population.  The  number  of  illegitimate 
births  in  a  community  lessens,  in  its  degree,  the  number 
of  marriages.  Thus,  in  Vienna,  where  the  proportion 
of  illegitimate  births  is  excessive,  the  marriage  rate  is 
correspondingly  low.  But  the  labour  market  is  un- 
affected thereby,  as  the  illegitimate  children  enter  it  in 
the  same  proportion  as  the  legitimate,  and  it  is  found 
that  the  birth-rate  bears  the  same  proportion  to  the 


82  Malthusianism  and  the 

death-rate  that  it  would  if  all  the  births  were  legiti- 
mate. 

Where  the  fecundity  of  the  average  marriage  is 
greater  the  proportion  of  marriages  is  lower  than  in  a 
country  where  the  fecundity  is  less,  supposing  the 
demands  of  the  labour  market  to  be  similar  in  both 
countries.  This  can  be  clearly  demonstrated  by  a 
comparison  of  English  and  Scotch  statistics  for  a  period 
of  thirty-three  years  (1871-1903) .  The  average  number 
of  births  annually  in  1000  persons  was  in  England  32-0, 
in  Scotland  32'2.  The  equality,  as  he  points  out,  is 
surprising  when  we  perceive  that  throughout  the  period 
the  number  of  marriages  per  1000  persons  amounted  in 
England  to  7-8,  in  Scotland  to  7-0  only.  In  order  to 
discover  the  relative  productivity  of  English  and 
Scotch  marriages  we  must  take  into  account  the  rela- 
tive illegitimacy  of  the  two  countries.  In  Scotland  it 
was  8  per  cent  of  the  births,  while  in  England  it  was 
only  4-5.  Deducting  that  from  the  sum  total  of  the 
births,  we  find  that  78  English  marriages  produced 
306  children,  while  70  Scots  produced  296  children. 
The  resulting  difference  in  the  fecundity  of  the  marri- 
ages of  the  two  countries  is  that  in  Scotland  100  marri- 
ages produce  423  children,  in  England  they  yield  only 
392,  or  7-4  per  cent  fewer.  The  labour  market  of  the 
two  countries  called  for  an  equal  birth-rate,  and  this 
was  accordingly  obtained,  regardless  of  illegitimacy  or 
fecundity. 

The  ages  at  which  men  marry  in  different  classes  only 
proves  that,  as  a  general  rule,  men  marry  when  they 
are  able  to  do  so.  Men  who  labour  with  their  hands 
can  marry  at  an  early  age,  while  men  who  live  by  their 
brains,  and  require  to  establish  a  position  before  they 
secure  a  sufficient  income,  are  perforce  compelled  to 
defer  marriage  to  a  later  period  of  life.  Mr.  Benjamin 
Kidd,  in  Appendix  I  to  his  "  Social  Evolution,"  gives 


Law  of  Population 


an  interesting  table  from  which  the  following  figures 
may  be  quoted.  The  numbers  are  those  out  of  every 
1000  males  in  each  class. 


Professional 

Marriages. 

Artisans. 

Shopmen. 

Farmers. 

or 
Independent 

Classes. 

Under  25  years 

598 

467 

284 

151 

Between  25  and  35 

351 

451 

566 

648 

Above  35 

51 

82 

ISO 

201 

With  the  improved  social  position,  which  means  in- 
creased annual  expenditure,  we  see  a  gradual  diminu- 
tion in  numbers  of  those  who  marry  before  25  years, 
a  gradual  increase  in  those  between  25  and  35,  and  the 
most  marked  gradual  increase  in  those  above  35  years. 
Among  the  professional  classes  we  find  that  one-third 
more  marry  over  35  than  under  25.  How  different 
from  the  artisan,  in  which  class  50  only  marry  over  35 
in  proportion  to  600  under  25. 

The  limitation  which  the  demands  of  the  labour  market 
place  upon  the  power  of  forming  marriages  prevents  the 
growth  of  a  surplus  population,  for  the  reason  that  where 
the  demand  for  labour  is  not  increasing  no  new  posts  are 
created,  and  the  population  remains  without  material 
increase  or  decrease.  But  whenever  an  abnormal 
demand  for  labour  is  created,  say  by  a  decimating 
pestilence,  it  is  always  found  that  there  is  sufficient 
reserve  of  young  men  to  fill  the  vacant  posts.  These 
young  men  are  called  upon,  earlier  than  was  anticipated, 
to  occupy  them,  and  are  enabled  to  marry  at  an  earlier 
age  ;  and  thus  in  a  few  years  the  fruit  of  these  marri- 
ages raises  the  population  to  its  former  level ;  for  the 
ravages  of  pestilence  never  act  as  more  than  a  mere 
temporary  check  upon  population.  The  dread  scourge 
of  cholera,within  living  memory,  swept  away  one-third 


84 


Malthusianism  and  the 


of  the  inhabitants  of  Mysore  in  India,  but  this  proved 
no  permanent  check,  for  within  fifteen  years,  by  the 
natural  increase  of  its  people,  the  population  was 
greater  than  it  had  been  before  this  visitation. 

A  community  may  suffer  great  reduction  in  its 
numbers  owing  to  a  constant  stream  of  emigration  such 
as  is  at  present  taking  place  from  the  Mother  Country 
to  Canada,  or  as  did  take  place  in  former  times  to  the 
Australian  goldfields.  But  there  is  no  permanent 
reduction  of  the  population.  The  labour  market  in- 
sists on  a  certain  marriage  and  birth-rate  for  its  own 
necessities  ;  the  stream  of  emigrants  increases  these  as 
long  as  it  lasts,  but  in  no  way  depletes  the  rates  in  each 
case  necessary  to  supply  the  home-labour  market.  The 
emigration  from  Ireland  to  the  United  States  in  the 
last  three  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  been 
of  a  different  character,  as  the  emigrants  were  com- 
pelled by  distress  to  leave  the  soil  owing  to  the  enor- 
mous depreciation  that  had  taken  place  in  the  pecu- 
niary value  of  agricultural  produce.  The  margin  of 
profit  in  the  smaller  farms  had  been  so  reduced  that  it 
was  no  longer  sufficient  to  maintain  a  family,  even  in 
the  low  standard  of  comfort  that  satisfies  the  wants  of 
the  Irish  peasant.  The  result  has  been  that  the  small 
farmers  have  been  forced  to  emigrate,  and  a  redistribu- 
tion of  soil  has  taken  place,  so  that,  as  the  holders  of 
farms  have  become  fewer  the  farms  become  larger. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  this  is  attended  by  a  marked 
improvement  in  the  standard  of  comfort  of  those  who 
remain.  If  emigration  had  not  been  available  to  relieve 
the  distress,  the  remedy  must  have  come,  and  assuredly 
would  have  come  from  a  reduction,  to  the  amount 
required,  of  the  number  of  marriages.  The  marriage- 
rate  of  Ireland  since  1845  has  been  greatly  below  that 
of  any  European  country.  Whereas  in  the  years  when 
its  population  was  going  up  by  leaps  and  bounds  its 


Law  of  Population  85 

marriage-rate  must  have  amounted  to  10-0  or  12-0  per 
1000  of  the  population  ;  from  1873  to  1883  it  was  only 
4-5  ;  from  1883  to  1894  it  was  4-4  ;  from  1893  to  1903 
it  was  5-0.  The  numbers  for  England,  similarly,  were 
7-9,  7-7,  and  7-8.  This  is  a  striking  illustration  of  how 
the  demand  of  the  labour  market  in  determining  the 
marriage-rate  is  imperative  and  must  be  obeyed.  But 
for  emigration  the  power  to  marry  would  have  suffered 
a  much  more  severe  restriction.  It  is  very  easy  to 
demonstrate  how  this  law  operates  in  an  agricultural 
community  such  as  that  of  Ireland :  the  small  farms 
cease  to  pay  and  the  tenants  have  not  sufficient  means 
to  marry ;  as  depreciation  continues  larger  farms  are 
affected  similarly,  until  a  large  proportion  of  the 
farming  class  is  forced  to  remain  single.  The  farms 
are  vacated  in  the  course  of  time,  and,  not  being  occu- 
pied, are  used  to  enlarge  neighbouring  holdings. 
Marriages,  perforce,  become  fewer  and  fewer,  as  has 
already  been  demonstrated  in  the  case  of  Ireland  ; 
deaths  become  more  numerous  than  the  births,  and 
the  population  must  needs  decrease. 

In  a  stagnant  community  emigration  acts  as  a 
means  of  stimulating  the  marriage  and  birth-rate,  as 
the  existing  posts  of  employment  are  vacated  by  the 
emigrants,  and  young  men  acquiring  these  are  enabled 
to  marry  much  earlier  than  otherwise.  As  long  as  this 
continues  the  marriage  and  birth-rate  will  keep  up 
correspondingly  to  fill  the  gaps  made  by  the  removals 
from  the  community. 

Emigration  does  not,  therefore,  tend  to  depopulate. 
The  only  cause  of  this  is  a  declining  labour  market. 
"  We  therefore  reach  the  inevitable  conclusion,"  says 
Paulin,  "  that  England  is  not  by  a  single  family  less 
populous  than  she  would  have  been  if  she  had  not  sent 
forth  the  men  who  peopled  the  vast  continents  of 
North  America  and  Australia." 


86 


Malthusianism  and  the 


We  must  now  consider  the  vital  statistics  of  Europe, 
drawn  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  Registrar- 
General  of  England.  Malthus  had  no  reliable  statistics 
upon  which  to  argue  Or  found  his  case  ;  for  example, 
in  regard  to  Russia,  he  culled,  from  the  St.  Petersburg 
authorities,  statistics  showing  forth  the  average  span 
of  life  in  the  Government  of  Veronesch  to  be  79  years, 
Tver  75  years,  Novgorod  58  years,  etc.,  the  average 
span  of  life  made  to  work  out  at  not  less  than  58  years  ; 
and  this  at  a  time  when  Sweden,  which  all  along  has 
been  foremost  in  the  longevity  of  its  people,  could  only 
boast  of  30  years.  The  reports  of  the  Registrar- 
General  show  conclusively  how  misinformed  Malthus 
was.  The  vital  statistics  he  furnishes  in  his  annual 
reports  prove  that  in  the  twenty-one  years,  1879-99, 
the  death-rate  of  Russia  transcends  that  of  any 
European  country,  and  that  necessarily  the  birth-rate 
is  also  very  much  higher. 


Death-rate  per 
1000  Persons. 

Life  Term. 

Years. 

Days. 

Russia 

(  1879-88 
11889-98 

34'3 
34'6 

29 

28 

56 

J37 

Hungary 

i 

33'5 
30-7 

29 
32 

305 
309 

Roumania 

{ 

28-6 
29-5 

34 
33 

352 
328 

Sweden 

{ 

16-9 
16-37 

59 
61 

62 
32 

Norway 

{ 

16-9 
16-3 

59 
61 

62 
127 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  birth-rate  is,  more 
directly  than  the  marriage-rate,  affected  by  the  death- 
rate.  Illegitimacy  is  more  prevalent  in  some  countries 
than  in  others  ;  and  where  it  is  so  the  marriage-rate  is 
diminished.  Again,  where  the  limitation  of  the  family 


Law  of  Population 


is  a  recognised  practice,  we  find  the  birth-rate  does  not 
bear  its  due  proportion  to  the  marriage-rate.  More- 
over, the  difference  in  the  fecundity  of  different  peoples 
renders  it  advisable  to  measure  by  the  birth-rate 
rather  than  by  the  marriage-rate  the  movement  of 
population. 

We  shall  see  now  from  the  study  of  the  following 
table  the  effect  of  the  high  death-rate  of  Russia, 
Hungary,  and  Roumania  upon  the  birth-rate,  and  be 
able  to  compare  the  results  thus  obtained  with  those  of 
other  countries  in  which  the  death-rate  is  much  lower. 


1879-98. 

Death-rate 
per 

1000. 

Birth-rate 
per 

IOOO. 

Natural 
Increase 
in  two 
Decades. 

Actual 
Increase. 

Excess 
of 
Emigration. 

Russia    

34.-C 

48-7 

°/ 
/o 

o/ 
/o 

°/ 

/O 

Hungary    . 

32-1 

42'2 

2"? 

22'3 

2'7 

Roumania  

2Q-6 

4O-7 

3° 

2S'Q 

4'I 

Norway  

16-8 

^O*5 

29-8 

13-8 

16-0 

Sweden    

l6-7 

2?'=; 

24-8 

1  1  -7 

I  VI 

England    

18-8 

*!•* 

28-9 

2V9 

vo 

Prussia    

2V6 

H7'2 

30-2 

24"; 

V7 

Netherlands    .  .  . 
France  

20-2 
2I-Q 

33-7 

2V3 

3°'9 

3-O 

27-4 
4-4 

3'5 

Excess  of 
Immigra- 
tion. 
1-4 

Belgium     

2O-2 

2Q-Q 

2I'I 

2-1 

80-7 

No  scientific  statement  can  be  made  from  the 
Russian  registration  statistics  as  they  are  quite  un- 
reliable. The  chief  fact  to  be  derived  from  these 
statistics  is,  as  has  been  pointed  out  over  and  over 
again,  that  when  the  mortality  declines  from  decade  to 
decade,  as  it  tends  to  do  in  all  civilised  communities, 
the  birth-rate  experiences  a  corresponding  decline,  but 


88 


Malthusianism  and  the 


this  is  not  always  apparent,  owing  to  its  elevation  by 
the  demands  of  the  labour  market  and  the  process  of 
emigration.  According  to  the  degree  in  which  these 
factors  operate  is  the  visible  effect  of  the  declining 
mortality  upon  the  birth-rate  neutralised.  This  is  well 
exemplified  by  the  following  table : — 


England. 

Scotland. 

Annual  No.  of 
Deaths  per  1000. 

Annual  No.  of 
Births  per  1000. 

Annual  No.  of 
Deaths  per  1000. 

Annual  No.  of 
Births  per  1000. 

1864-1873 
1874-1883 
1884-1893 
1894-1903 

22'4 
2O'7 
I9-2 
I7-2 

35'3 
34-8 

3i-6 
29-1 

22-2 
2O'9 
I9-2 
I7-8 

35'Q 
34'4 
3i-7 
29-8 

In  the  four  decades  in  England  the  death-rate  de- 
clined 23-2  per  cent,  and  the  birth-rate  only  17-5  per 
cent :  in  Scotland  correspondingly  19-8  per  cent  and 
14-9  per  cent.  This  is  explained  at  once  by  the  two 
factors  mentioned  above — first,  the  extension  of  the 
labour  market,  shown  by  an  addition  in  England  of 
62  per  cent  to  her  population  in  these  forty  years,  and 
in  Scotland  46  per  cent.  The  numerical  increase  was 
accompanied  by  an  enormous  addition  to  the  national 
wealth,  and  corresponding  elevation  of  comfort  in  all 
classes.  And  secondly,  both  countries  have  poured 
forth  a  steady  stream  of  emigration  to  all  the  colonies, 
more  particularly  to  Canada  and  Australia,  and  also  to 
the  United  States,  not  driven  by  want  or  difficulty  of 
gaining  a  livelihood,  but  impelled  by  the  spirit  of 
adventure  and  the  prospect  of  greater  opportunity  for 
improved  material  well-being  in  young  and  rapidly 
developing  countries  which  are  calling  out  for  an  in- 
creased labour  supply.  These  two  causes  have  elevated 


Law  of  Population 


the  birth-rate  in  that  proportion  in  which  its  decline  has 
failed  to  equal  the  death-rate. 

In  Sweden  and  Norway  the  continuous  stream  of 
emigration  to  the  United  States  has  been  mainly  the 
elevating  factor  in  the  birth-rate.  As  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Registrar-General  go  no  further  back  in 
the  case  of  Norway  than  1871,  the  period  of  thirty- 
three  years,  1871-1903,  is  divided  into  four  parts,  the 
first  three  consisting  of  eight  years,  and  the  fourth  of 
nine  years. 

NORWAY. 


Excess  of 

Marriages 

Deaths 

Births 

Natural 

Actual 

Emigration 

per  1000. 

per  1000. 

per  looo. 

Increase. 

Increase. 

over 

Immigration. 

O/ 

/o 

% 

o/ 
/O 

1871-1878 

7-2 

17-3 

30-9 

II-I 

8-3 

2-8 

1879-1886 

6-6 

16-5 

31-0 

II-9 

4-7 

7-2 

1887-1894 

6-3 

17-1 

30-3 

10-7 

3'3 

7'4 

1895-1903 

6-8 

15-3 

29-9 

12-6 

10-2 

2-4 

SWEDEN. 

The  Swedish  table  begins  with  the  decade  1854-63, 
which  preceded  that  in  which  the  tide  of  emigration 
began  to  flow,  which  has  prevailed  ever  since  in  Sweden. 


Excess  of 

Marriages 

Deaths 

Births 

Natural 

Actual 

Emigration 

per  looo. 

per  1000. 

per  1000. 

Increase. 

Increase. 

over 

Immigration. 

°/ 
/o 

°/ 
/o 

°/ 
/O 

1854-1863 

7-6 

2O'9 

33'3 

13-2 

12-4 

0-8 

1864-1873 

6-5 

19-3 

30-6 

u-8 

7-0 

4-8 

1874-1883 

6-6 

18-4 

30-1 

12-3 

7'4 

4-9 

1884-1893 

6-1 

l6'9 

277 

I2-I 

4-8 

7'3 

1894-1903 

6-0 

15-9 

26-8 

n-6 

8-2 

3'4 

90          Malthusianism  and  the 

Attention  must  be  called,  firstly,  to  the  great  fall  in  the 
marriage-rate  in  the  first  decade  from  7-6  to  6-5,  and 
then  to  6-0  in  the  last ;  secondly,  to  the  apparent  retard- 
ation in  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country  after  the 
first  decade,  as  shown  by  the  lower  decennial  actual  in- 
creases from  12-4  per  cent  to  7  per  cent,  on  to  4-8  per  cent 
in  1884-93.  As  the  labour  market  is  always  satisfied 
whatever  the  rate  of  emigration  may  be,  the  numerical 
increase  obviously  shows  forth  the  commercial  pros- 
perity of  a  country  ;  thirdly,  to  the  fact  that,  although 
the  labour  market  was  calling  for  constantly  diminish- 
ing numbers,  the  natural  increase  did  not  tend  to  fall, 
e.g.  in  decade  1884-93  the  labour  market  only  required 
an  increase  of  4-8  per  cent,  the  natural  increase 
amounted  to  12-1  per  cent.  Thus  we  see  that  the  birth- 
rate made  provision  both  for  the  labour  and  emigration 
demand  ;  fourthly,  to  the  rise  of  Swedish  emigration 
from  the  almost  immaterial  amount  of  27,000  for  the 
decade  1854-63,  till  it  reached  332,000  for  the  same 
period,  1884 — 93,  equivalent  to  7-3  per  cent  of  the 
population. 

The  decade  1854-63  was  one  that  seemed  to  be  of 
unexampled  prosperity,  due  to  an  inflated  industrial 
and  commercial  activity,  fostered  to  a  great  extent  by 
the  contemporaneous  introduction  of  railways  into  the 
country.  Emigration  during  this  decade  was  of  the 
slightest.  In  the  three  that  followed  the  aggregate 
excess  of  emigration  over  immigration  was  equal  to 
47  per  cent  of  the  natural  increase,  and  amounted  to 
730,000  persons.  This  large  number  of  emigrants  left 
their  several  posts  to  be  rilled  by  younger  men,  who, 
then  being  able  to  marry,  brought  about  such  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  births  to  replace  the  numbers  who 
had  departed.  In  the  last  decade  of  the  table  the  emi- 
gration movement  suffers  a  very  severe  check,  the  bulk 
of  the  natural  increase  being  retained  for  the  home 


Law  of  Population  91 

labour  market.  The  same  phenomenon  is  visible  in 
Norway.  The  population  of  Sweden,  which  in  the 
previous  decade  added  only  4-8  per  cent,  made  in  this 
an  increase  of  8-2  per  cent,  while  the  actual  increase  of 
Norway  was  raised  from  3-3  to  10-2  per  cent.  Whereas 
in  the  eight  years  1887-94  the  emigration  from  Norway 
amounted  to  147,000  persons,  it  amounted  for  the  nine 
years  1895-1903  to  47,000.  These  figures  prove  that  a 
season  of  prosperity  had  come  to  both  countries, 
marked  by  a  great  home-labour  demand,  accompanied 
by  an  increased  standard  of  comfort  that  neutralised 
to  a  great  extent  the  attractiveness  of  a  settlement  in 
the  United  States. 

In  the  second  decade,  1864-73,  Sweden  suffered 
from  five  disastrous  years,  during  which  the  propor- 
tional number  of  marriages  fell  from  7-6  per  1000 
persons  to  6-5.  In  1867  there  fell  upon  Sweden  and 
Norway  a  terrible  commercial  crisis,  such  as  happens 
after  a  course  of  over-production  and  over-trading,  the 
effect  of  which,  in  throwing  great  numbers  out  of  em- 
ployment, was  continued  throughout  a  series  of  years. 
This  was  accompanied  by  agricultural  depression.  In 
that  period  began  the  great  efflux  from  Scandinavia  to 
the  United  States  of  America  which  has  gone  on 
continuously  up  to  the  present  time. 

We  next  deal  with  Prussia,  the  Netherlands,  and 
Belgium,  which  show,  as  a  common  feature,  a  decline 
in  the  birth-rate  exceedingly  small  compared  to  the 
death-rate — in  each  case  due  mainly  to  the  expansion 
of  the  labour  market,  and  in  a  small  degree,  compara- 
tively, to  the  effect  of  emigration. 

As  the  boundaries  of  Prussia  were  largely  extended 
in  the  decade  1864-73,  Paulin  was  not  able  to  give  the 
natural  and  actual  increases  until  after  that  period. 


Malthusianism  and  the 


PRUSSIA. 


Population  at 
Beginning  of 
Decade. 

Natural 
Increase. 

Actual 
Increase. 

Excess  of 
Emigration 
over 
Immigration. 

T  Qf\    4         t  8-7  -> 

1874-1883 
1884-1893 
1894-1903 

Population  in 
1903 

24,948,000 
27,746,000 
30,830,000 

35,825,000 

3,548,000 
3,875,000 
5,174,000 

2,798,000 
3,084,000 

4.995.°°o 

75O,OOO 
79I,OOO 
I79,OOO 

The  next  table  contains  the  number  of  marriages, 
deaths,  and  births  annually  in  1000  persons,  with  the 
rates  per  cent  of  the  natural  and  actual  increases,  and 
in  the  last  column  the  proportion  of  emigrants  to  the 
natural  increase. 


Proportion 

Marriages. 

Deaths. 

Births. 

Natural 
Increase. 

Actual 
Increase. 

of 
Emi- 

grants. 

°/ 
/O 

°/ 

/O 

°/ 
/o 

1864-1873 

8-8 

27-0 

38-2 







1874-1883 

8-2 

25-5 

38-9 

I4-2 

II-2 

3-o 

1884-1893 

8-1 

24-I 

37'3 

13-9 

II-I 

2-8 

1894-1903 

8-2 

20-8 

36-2 

16-7 

16-2 

0'5 

The  death-rates  and  marriage-rates  were  quite 
abnormal  in  the  first  of  these  decades.  In  1870-71  the 
mortality  was  greatly  raised  by  the  war  with  France  : 
in  1872  it  was  elevated  in  an  almost  equal  degree  by 
the  numbers  dying  at  home  from  the  effects  of  wounds 
and  exposure  during  the  campaign.  In  1873  came  a 
visitation  of  cholera,  from  which  Prussia  suffered 
severely.  The  mortalities  of  these  four  years  produced 


Law  of  Population  93 

an  abnormal  number  of  marriages,  bringing  the  average 
of  the  decade  to  the  high  figure  of  8*8  per  1000  persons. 
In  1871,  1872,  and  1873  the  number  of  marriages  per 
1000  persons  were  respectively  10-4,  10-1,  and  9-7.  The 
explanation  of  the  birth-rate  being  somewhat  higher  in 
the  decade  1874-83,  which  had  no  abnormal  mortali- 
ties notwithstanding  that  the  marriage-rate  fell  from  an 
average  of  8-8  to  8-2  per  1000  persons,  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  large  number  of  marriages  in  the  last  four 
years  of  the  first  decade  yielded  the  greater  number 
of  their  resultant  births  in  the  second. 

The  excess  of  emigration  over  immigration  did  not 
amount  to  more  than  5  per  cent  of  the  natural  increase 
before  the  war.  But  the  access  of  militarism  after  it, 
the  stringency  of  the  conscription,  and  the  accom- 
panying burdens  were  the  inciting  causes  of  a  vastly 
increased  emigration.  In  place  of  an  annual  departure 
of  100,000  before  the  war,  the  excess  of  emigration  over 
immigration  rose  to  an  annual  average  of  750,000  in 
the  decade  1874-83,  and  791,000  in  the  next. 

There  was  great  extension  in  the  Prussian  Empire  of 
industrial  and  commercial  enterprise  between  1893  and 
1903,  and  one  result  was  that  while  the  death-rate 
declined  nearly  14  per  cent,  the  birth-rate  declined  only 
3-5  per  cent,  and  the  decennial  increase  of  the  popu- 
lation bounded  from  three  millions  in  the  decade  1884- 
93  to  five  millions  between  1894  and  1903,  the  rate  of 
increase  having  risen  from  n-i  to  16-2  per  cent. 

From  790,000  in  the  previous  decade,  the  annual 
excess  of  emigration  fell  to  less  than  180,000.  This 
decline  in  the  amount  of  emigration  was  consequent 
upon  the  great  material  betterment  that  had  accrued 
to  the  working-classes,  and  rendered  them  more  con- 
tent with  their  surroundings  in  the  home  country. 
Although  few  posts  were  vacated  by  death  and  by 
emigration,  the  multitude  of  such  created  by  the  vast 


94 


Malthusianism  and  the 


development  that  took  place  in  the  industries  and 
trade  of  Prussia  called  forth  a  continually  greater 
number  of  men  to  supply  them,  and  thus  an  increase 
of  population  proportionally  greater  than  had  been 
made  in  any  past  decade  was  called  into  being. 

NETHERLANDS. 


Marriages 

Births 

Deaths 

Average  Life 

Children 

per  1000. 

per  1000. 

per  1000. 

Term. 

Marriages. 

Yrs.      Days. 

1854-1863 

7-9 

33-6 

25-9 

38        222 

425 

:     1864-1873 

7'3 

35-5 

25-7 

38        332 

485 

1874-1883 

7-8 

36-0 

22'7 

44        19 

464 

1884-1893 

7-1 

33'7 

20-6 

48        198 

476 

1894-1903 

7'5 

32-2 

17-2 

57 

432 

Actual  Increase. 

Excess  of 
Emigration 

Actual  Increase. 

1864-1873 

310,000 

44,000 

9-0 

1874-1883 

458,000 

69,000 

12-2 

1884-1893 

502,OOO 

82,OOO 

I2-O 

1894-1904 

688,000 

69,000 

14-6 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  second  table  tells  us  of 
a  country  whose  labour  market  is  constantly  expand- 
ing. Though  the  Netherlands  have  extensive  pos- 
sessions beyond  the  seas,  yet  the  emigration  has  always 
been  on  a  modest  scale.  Scotland,  with  a  smaller 
population,  has  greatly  exceeded  her  in  the  number  of 
emigrants  from  her  shores.  That  the  last  decade  has 
been  singularly  prosperous  is  evidenced  by  the  larger 
natural  increase  of  16-1  per  cent  and  actual  increase  of 
14-6  per  cent. 


Law  of  Population  95 

These  tables  show  to  a  demonstration  the  fluctuation 
of  the  marriage-rate  as  affected  by  the  state  of  the 
labour  market  and  also  by  the  decline  of  the  death-rate. 
Where  a  heightened  marriage-rate  is  not  caused  by 
a  pestilential  mortality  or  increased  emigration,  it  in- 
variably signifies  a  greater  degree  of  prosperity. 

What  is  most  noteworthy  in  the  table  is  the  small 
drop  of  the  birth-rate  compared  to  the  large  fall  in  the 
death-rate.  In  the  forty  years,  1864-1903,  the  average 
life  in  the  Netherlands  has  been  lengthened  by  no  less 
than  eighteen  years,  and  if  we  compare  the  decade 
1864-73  with  that  of  1894-1903,  we  find  that  in  the 
former  25-7  per  1000  died  annually  compared  to  17-2 
in  the  latter.  But  while  the  posts  of  employment  made 
vacant  by  death  were  reduced  greatly  in  numbers, 
those  created  by  the  expansion  of  trade  and  industries 
of  Holland  had  become  so  much  more  numerous  as  to 
raise  the  natural  increase  of  the  population  from  10-3 
per  cent  decennially  to  16-1  per  cent ;  the  actual 
increase  from  9  to  14-6  per  cent.  The  commercial  and 
industrial  development  of  Holland  may  be  estimated 
from  the  fact  that  to  a  population  of  3,431,000  in  1863, 
she,  in  the  space  of  forty  years,  added  no  fewer  than 
1,958,000  persons,  an  increase  of  rather  more  than  57 
per  cent,  while  the  standard  of  comfort  of  the  people 
had  been  greatly  elevated.  If  neither  trade  nor  in- 
dustry had  developed  since  1864,  but  had  remained  in 
status  quo  ante,  the  birth-rate  would  have  fallen  in 
commensurate  degree  with  the  death-rate,  and  in  1894- 
1903  would  have  amounted  to  22-0  births  annually  to 
1000  persons,  instead  of  being,  as  it  was,  as  high  as  32-2, 
showing  clearly  to  how  great  an  extent  the  birth- 
rate has  been  kept  up  and  prevented  from  falling 
by  the  commercial  and  industrial  expansion  of  the 
country. 


96 


Malthusianism  and  the 


BELGIUM. 


Marriages 
in  1000 
annually. 

Births 
in  1000 
annually. 

Deaths 
in  1000 
annually. 

Average 
Life  Term. 

Births 
in  100 
Marriages. 

Yrs.    Days. 

1864-1873 

7'5 

32-O 

24-I 

41       29 

427 

1874-1883 

7-0 

31'4 

21-4 

46    266 

444 

1884-1893 

7-2 

29-5 

20-4 

49       7 

407 

1894-1903 

7-1 

28-7 

18-0 

55  203 

354 

In  this  table  there  is  only  one  feature  requiring 
notice — the  continuous  decline  of  the  birth-rate  since 
1874  in  face  of  the  continual  elevation  of  the  marriage- 
rate.  In  the  last  decade  the  birth-rate  makes  an 
extraordinary  decline,  the  births  per  100  marriages 
falling  from  407  in  the  previous  decade,  and  from 
444  in  the  decade  prior  to  that,  to  354.  The  only 
possible  explanation  is  the  adoption  by  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  population  of  Belgium  of  the  system 
which  prevails  in  France,  of  married  people  limiting 
the  number  of  their  children.  Were  it  not  for  its 
adoption  by  the  French  people,  the  proportion  of 
marriages  to  population,  which  is  as  high  in  France  as 
in  the  Netherlands,  would  yield  an  increase  far  beyond 
what  there  is  room  for  in  the  labour  market  of  France. 

It  is  now  impossible  to  doubt  that  Paulin  has  proved 
the  famous  Malthusian  doctrine  to  be  one  of  those 
creeds  of  science  which  holds  the  minds  of  men  for  one 
or  even  several  generations,  but  which  ultimately 
melts  away  before  the  accumulating  light  of  truth.  He 
has  proved  that  population  never  tends  to  outrun  the 
means  of  subsistence ;  that  population  recedes  when 
industry  and  commerce  do,  and  rises  again  with  a 
period  of  commercial  prosperity.  He  has  shown  that 
war,  pestilence,  and  famine  do  not  limit  population  ; 


Law  of  Population  97 

that,  in  fact,  they  act  at  once  automatically  as  an 
incentive  to  an  increased  birth-rate.  At  last  we  realise 
that  the  doctrine  of  Malthus  in  regard  to  the  "  genus 
homo  sapiens,"  which  Darwin  adopted  and  said  "  ap- 
plied with  manifold  force  to  the  whole  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdom,"  has  been  proved  to  be  contrary  to 
fact,  to  be  unsupported  by  scientific  data,  and  to  have 
been  a  mere  temporary  illusion  whose  "  ineffectual 
fire  "  has  paled  and  finally  disappeared  before  the 
searchlight  of  truth. 

One  has  heard  it  argued  that  it  is  all  very  well  to 
theorise,  but  that  war,  pestilence,  famine,  vice,  and 
misery  are  absolutely  essential;  otherwise,  in  the  process 
of  the  ages,  the  population  must  of  necessity  outrun  the 
means  of  subsistence.  Even  in  the  "  ideal  state," 
which  I  hope  to  prove  later  is  a  necessary  consequence 
of  the  social  evolution  of  humanity,  men  will  always 
desire  to  marry,  and  as  it  is  presumed  that  the  indi- 
vidual struggle  to  acquire  the  means  of  subsistence  will 
become  less  and  less  as  time  goes  on,  the  marriage-rate 
will  correspondingly  rise,  and,  ere  long,  over-population 
must  become  an  accomplished  fact.  Moreover,  this 
process  would  be  hastened  by  the  gradual  diminution 
of  the  death-rate.  We  are  told  that  not  so  very  many 
years  ago  the  population  of  the  world  was  given  as 
fourteen  hundred  millions  ;  now  it  is  stated  to  be  over 
two  thousand  millions.  The  increase  is  easily  accounted 
for  :  it  is  due  to  fresh  tracts  of  alluvial  soil  on  the 
earth's  surface  being  thrown  open  to  the  pioneer  and 
the  cultivator,  and  thus  more  food  is  being  constantly 
produced :  this  brings  about  increased  trade  and 
commerce,  and  consequent  augmentation  of  the  world's 
wealth ;  and  it  necessarily  follows  that  the  marriage- 
rate  rises,  with  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  birth- 
rate. 

It  is  further  argued  that  every  acre  of  fertile  soil 
c 


98 


Malthusianism  and  the 


must  ultimately  come  under  cultivation,  and  then  the 
population  will  increase  to  the  utmost  possible  limit. 
It  is  asked  what  is  to  happen  then,  with  the  natural 
impetus  towards  still  further  increase  ?  We  are 
entitled  to  take  the  evidence  of  history  in  regard  to  this 
point.  The  facts  and  figures  given  in  this  chapter  prove 
to  a  demonstration  that  the  population  never  does 
outrun  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  that  this  law 
would  operate  just  as  effectually  when  the  earth  had 
reached  its  limit  of  production.  We  have  seen  that  in 
some  countries  the  population  which  at  one  time  had 
risen  markedly  had  begun  to  recede  from  year  to 
year,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  death-rate 
had  diminished  progressively  owing  to  improved 
hygiene,  sanitary  laws,  better  housing,  and  preventive 
medicine.  We  have  proved  that  in  these  countries 
there  was  abstention  from  marriage — "  the  prudential 
restraint,"  which  Malthus  said  "  operated  with  incon- 
siderable force  " — caused  by  the  inability  of  the  young 
man  to  "  acquire  means  which  will  enable  him  in  his 
degree  to  marry."  It  is  surely  quite  fair  to  argue  that 
if  the  prudential  restraint  is  of  such  potency  now,  it 
will  act  no  less  powerfully  when  we  have  reached  the 
limit  of  production  of  food  supply,  and  that  it  will 
operate  with  even  greater  force  in  the  days  of  the 
"  ideal  state,"  when  men,  trained  by  self-denial,  and 
influenced  by  a  desire  to  benefit  their  fellow-men  and 
the  unborn  generations  which  are  to  follow,  shall  have 
acquired  a  self-control  which  will  effectually  keep  the 
marriage-rate  within  the  bounds  required,  just  as 
surely  as  it  is  now  controlled  by  the  demands  of  the 
labour  market. 

In  France  the  birth-rate  has  gone  consistently  down, 
until  quite  recently  it  reached  even  a  lower  level  than 
the  death-rate,  so  that  the  population  for  the  time 
being  was  actually  receding.  The  labour  market 


Law  of  Population  99 

demanded  a  smaller  population  than  the  country 
possessed,  and  this  was  immediately  granted.  If  such 
a  state  of  affairs  can  be  demonstrated  in  a  modern 
European  State — one  of  the  great  Powers  in  the  van 
of  civilisation — surely  we  are  entitled  to  argue  that  the 
same  laws  will  operate  in  the  world  as  a  whole  once  it 
is  fully  cultivated  and  yielding  its  maximum  of  the 
means  of  subsistence.  The  world  will  be  able  to  allow 
a  certain  number  of  marriages,  resulting  in  a  fixed 
birth-rate,  and  automatically  this,  and  no  more,  will  be 
supplied. 

No  doubt  other  forces  will  come  into  play.  The 
prevention  of  marriage  on  the  part  of  the  feeble-minded 
will  be  an  absolute  necessity  of  the  higher  evolution  of 
the  race,  and  this  measure  alone  will  have  no  small 
effect  in  limiting  the  birth-rate.  Moreover,  man,  in 
increasing  proportions  under  the  influence  of  the 
altruistic  spirit,  will  tend  to  sacrifice  his  own  personal 
inclinations  to  the  good  of  the  race  and  the  unborn 
generations  who  are  to  come  after.  With  a  higher 
spiritual  evolution  we  cannot  imagine  men  imbued 
with  the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics  bringing  children 
into  the  world,  knowing  that  their  fate  must  be  of  a 
most  uncertain  nature  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  popu- 
lation has  outgrown  the  means  of  subsistence. 

The  Eugenics  Congress — the  first  of  its  kind — held 
recently  in  London,  brought  prominently  before  the 
public  mind  the  question  of  the  increase  of  the  feeble- 
minded, and  the  corresponding  decline  in  rate  of  in- 
crease of  the  professional  classes.  The  explanation  is 
of  the  simplest.  The  feeble-minded  are  not  of  necessity 
feeble-bodied.  Physically,  as  a  rule,  they  are  at  least 
of  average  health,  and  they  reproduce  their  kind  in 
large  numbers  because  they  are  possessed  of  no  thought 
of  "  prudential  restraint "  ;  in  fact,  their  feeble- 
mindedness is  the  sole  cause  of  their  excessive  fecundity. 


ioo  Malthusianism  &  Law  of  Population 

The  professional  classes  are,  on  the  other  hand,  so  over- 
whelmed with  prudence  that  they  marry  late  as  a  rule, 
and  do  everything  possible  to  limit  the  number  of  their 
families. 

Of  the  various  plans  suggested,  the  Bill  for  the 
segregation  of  the  feeble-minded  is  the  only  possible. 
Such  measures  as  sterilisation  are  absurdities — the 
emanation  of  faddists  and  undeserving  of  considera- 
tion. The  prevailing  spirit  of  altruism  would  never 
permit  the  attempt  to  cure  a  social  disease  by  the  pro- 
duction of  mutilation  and  further  extension  of  abnor- 
mality in  the  individual.  Moreover,  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  so-called  feeble-minded  individual 
is  often  a  "  sport."  I  have  known  more  than  one 
family  where  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  these  were 
much  above  the  average  in  intelligence  and  mental 
capacity.  So  that  we  do  not  know  all  regarding 
this  subject.  I  feel  convinced  when  once  we  have 
attained  to  a  perfect  environment  for  all  the  members 
of  the  State,  from  infancy  onwards,  and  for  the  mother 
previous  to  the  advent  of  the  child,  that  ere  long  we  shall 
eliminate  the  causes  which  induce  "  feeble-minded- 
ness,"  and  that  before  many  generations  are  over  the 
Act  shall  have  become  a  dead  letter  owing  to  the 
complete  elimination  of  the  "  unfit." 

[/  am  greatly  indebted  to  Messrs.  T.  and  T.  Clark  for 
their  kind  permission  to  quote  the  foregoing  tables  from 
Pauliris  work  :  "  No  Struggle  for  Existence?} 


Chapter  VI 
Heredity  and  Environment 

law  of  the  survival  of  the  average  of  necessity 
J.  compels  a  remodelling  of  our  ideas  in  regard  to 
heredity.  The  prevalent  belief,  particularly  in  schools 
of  conservative  thought,  was  that  there  were  good 
families  and  common  people,  clever  and  stupid, 
smart  and  dull,  energetic  and  lazy,  rich  and  poor, 
thrifty  and  careless,  and  that  these  diversities  were 
produced  through  heredity  or  strains  of  blood.  The 
same  was  believed  in  regard  to  criminality  or  vice. 
Now  we  know  both  by  investigation  and  experiment 
that  it  is  not  so  ;  that  Man,  like  the  ordinary  animal, 
inherits  certain  physical  characteristics  and  instincts 
which  he  cannot  get  over  or  depart  from,  otherwise  he 
would  not  be  a  normal  type  ;  each  individual  man  or 
animal  has  certain  characteristics  apart  from  those  of 
the  genus  to  which  he  belongs  which  make  up  what 
we  call  his  individuality,  e.g.  shape  of  nose,  colour 
of  eye  or  hair,  particular  manner  of  walking,  or  speech, 
or  conduct,  some  of  which  are  hereditary,  some  the 
result  of  imitation  or  environment.  But  the  really 
important  characteristics  are  entirely  the  result  of 
environment,  which  includes  not  only  the  class  into 
which  a  man  is  born,  but  every  possible  influence  which 
surrounds  him  as  a  child,  whether  of  nature,  home, 
temper,  culture,  criminality  or  goodness  of  parents,  the 
education  which  he  receives,  and  the  religious  influence 
and  guidance  which  is  brought  to  bear  upon  him.  A 
child  is  often  remarked  to  look,  to  speak,  to  act,  to 

101 


IO2      Heredity  and  Environment 

walk  like  his  father  or  mother  ;  even  these  acts  are  not 
necessarily  hereditary  at  all ;  they  are  the  result  of 
environment ;  the  love  and  admiration  of  the  child 
causes  him  unconsciously  to  imitate  every  motion  and 
manner  of  the  loved  parent.  A  child  is  reared  in  a 
slum,  surrounded  by  vice  and  instigated  from  day  to 
day  towards  crime — it  may  be  theft,  this  being  the 
means  by  which  the  family  into  which  he  is  born  sur- 
vives. Can  it  be  expected  that  in  such  surroundings 
anything  else  can  happen  than  that  the  child  shall 
become  a  member  of  the  criminal  classes,  with  no  other 
possibility  but  a  career  of  crime  ?  And  yet  in  regard 
to  these  we  actually  talk  of  the  impossibility  of  eradi- 
cating a  bad  heredity !  It  has  become  axiomatic,  and 
yet  it  is  becoming  daily  more  evident  that  heredity 
has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  State  itself  is  to  blame 
for  allowing  such  an  environment  to  exist,  and  by  its 
negligence  in  regard  to  insanitary  conditions,  slum 
dwellings,  bad  land  laws,  overcrowding,  and  la  miserc, 
which  are  all  preventable,  and  which  are  the  potential 
causes  of  drink  and  crime.  "  Ah,"  you  say,  "  what 
about  one  son  in  a  large  family,  all  brought  up  in  a 
healthy  and  good  environment,  who  lapses,  succumbs 
to  drink,  and  ends  in  crime  ?  How  is  it  this  one  failure 
occurs  ?  Is  this  not  a  reversion  to  some  evil  strain  in 
a  remote  or  near  ancestor  ?  "  The  answer  is  that  it 
cannot  be  called  the  result  of  heredity  ;  the  parents 
and  the  other  sons  and  daughters  have  lived  good  lives 
and  done  their  duty  in  this  world  ;  this  case  is  excep- 
tional and  can  only  be  treated  from  the  standpoint  of 
disease.  We  have  every  right  to  assume  that  science 
will  yet  demonstrate  that  in  such  cases  there  is  impair- 
ment of  some  of  the  higher  centres  of  the  brain,  prob- 
ably of  the  inhibitory  nerve  cells  which  control  the 
lower  animal  instincts,  and  in  such  a  case  we  can  only 
conclude  we  are  not  dealing  with  a  normal  individual. 


Heredity  and  Environment      103 

These  abnormal  cases  will  tend  to  become  less  and  less 
under  wiser  methods  of  living,  a  healthier  environment, 
and  a  higher  ethical  evolution  of  the  race  as  a  whole. 

Insanity  has  always  been  held  to  be  a  hereditary 
disease,  but  we  know  that  very  few  families  have  not 
had  some  relative  who  has  been  peculiar,  or  has  required 
restraint  under  medical  surveillance.  From  personal 
experience  in  cases  where  it  has  appeared  to  be  here- 
ditary, I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is  mostly  evidenced  in 
regard  to  women,  and  has  been  due  to  the  daughters 
being  reared  by  a  mother  with  insane  characteristics, 
which  has  created  an  atmosphere  strongly  predispos- 
ing to  nervous  breakdown  on  the  part  of  the  children. 
They  live  in  constant  dread  of  sudden  ebullitions  of 
the  mother's  mental  excitation,  and  the  nervous  strain 
is  severe. 

You  may  ask,  what  of  the  epileptic  ?  Epilepsy  can 
be  inherited,  but  its  original  cause  is  undoubtedly 
preventable.  Insanitary  conditions,  bad  air,  and 
especially  alcohol,  produce  a  diseased  condition  of 
brain  which  so  affects  the  individual  generally  that  it 
would  be  absurd  to  expect  that  he  could  generate  a 
normal  or  average  member  of  the  race.  And  I  have  no 
doubt  that  epilepsy  will  disappear  when  better  methods 
prevail. 

I  hold,  therefore,  that  we  are  justified  in  coming  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  palmy  days  of  the  theory  of 
heredity  are  over  :  a  child  inherits  very  little  more 
from  its  parents  than  the  characteristics  of  the  genus 
homo  :  in  other  words,  any  healthy,  normal,  or  average 
child  can,  by  means  of  a  sufficiently  early  environment, 
be  so  moulded  as  to  be  efficient:  in  one  case,  as  an 
emperor,  in  another  as  a  scavenger,  as  a  saint,  or  a  devil. 

The  subject  was  very  thoroughly  gone  into  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  British  Medical  Association  at 
Oxford  some  years  ago,  and  the  majority  of  the  mem- 


IO4      Heredity  and  Environment 

bers  who  took  part  in  the  discussion  agreed  with  the 
view  which  we  have  given.  It  was  very  well  put  by  Dr. 
A.  T.  Schofield,  who  said  he  rose  "  to  emphasize  the 
statement  of  Dr.  K6nig,that  of  all  hereditary  tendencies 
that  of  alcohol  was  the  most  subject  to  the  forces  of 
environment.  They  must  remember  that  the  public 
followed  with  the  keenest  interest  their  remarks  on  this 
subject.  They  long  to  be  delivered  from  the  dead 
hand  of  heredity,  and  so  eagerly  did  they  welcome 
any  door  of  hope  that  he  noticed  last  year  when 
one  speaker  pointed  out  that,  after  all,  what  was  in- 
herited was  merely  a  tendency  which  could  be  re- 
sisted and  overcome,  and  therefore  there  was  no  need 
for  fatalism,  that  statement  was  copied  into  most 
English  papers.  He  therefore  was  very  glad  to  em- 
phasize Dr.  Konig's  statement  that  inherited  alcoholism 
followed  the  law  of  Herbert  Spencer,  that  a  man  was 
more  like  the  company  he  kept  than  that  from  which  he 
was  descended.  But  this  force  of  environment  applied 
not  only  to  alcohol,  it  applied  to  crime.  Those  who 
knew  anything  of  Mrs.  Meredith's  work  at  Addlestone 
(now  carried  on  by  Miss  Lloyd)  would  bear  him  out 
that  children  in  these  village  homes  were  taken  from 
their  mothers  with  four  generations  of  hereditary  crime, 
and  that  these  children  were  so  acted  on  by  their  per- 
fect environment  that  those  tendencies  which  became 
criminal  in  their  parents  were  directed  into  good 
channels,  so  that  they  grew  up  into  good,  honest,  and 
moral  men  and  women.  This  led  him  to  mention  one 
more  point  of  hope  in  which  he  believed  all  present 
would  agree,  and  that  was,  that  what  was  inherited 
was  not  '  vices/  or  '  virtues,'  or  even  '  diseases,' 
but  '  tendencies,'  which  by  bad  training  and  sur- 
roundings could  be  degraded  into  vices  or  diseases,  or 
by  good  could  be  elevated  into  virtues  or  health." 
And  we  are  glad  to  be  able  to  call  to  the  support  of 


Heredity  and  Environment      105 

our  ideas  on  this  subject  one  of  the  greatest  reputation 
in  the  medical  and  scientific  world,  not  only  in  the  field 
of  the  practice  of  physic,  but  a  most  able  teacher  and 
thinker — the  late  Sir  William  Gairdner,  of  Glasgow 
University.  The  "  British  Medical  Journal "  of 
November  3oth,  1912,  quoted  from  a  letter  from  Sir 
William  to  the  "  Scotsman  "  newspaper  (September 
3rd,  1896)  to  the  effect  that  he  had  sent  a  young  clergy- 
man, one  of  the  ablest  and  most  open-minded  men  he 
had  ever  known,  to  Tasmania  for  health  reasons,  and 
suggested  to  him  that  he  might  keep  his  eyes  open  and 
find  out  if  the  descendants  of  the  criminal  colony 
(which  was  unquestionably  the  British  stock  inhabiting 
Tasmania  or  Van  Diemen's  Land)  had  retained  in  any 
degree  the  criminal  or  otherwise  undesirable  taint,  as 
it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  on  the  "  necessarian 
atavistic  theory,"  as  one  might  call  it,  that  the  traces 
or  "  stigmata,"  or  whatever  a  modern  criminal  an- 
thropologist might  call  them,  of  persistent  "  degenera- 
tion "  and  criminal  tendencies  might  still  be  found 
among  such  a  population.  The  information  he  received 
was  on  the  contrary  that  the  Tasmanians  were  remark- 
ably free  from  such  apparent  "  reversions  "  of  inherited 
instincts;  and  that,  whether  judged  by  their  actual 
criminal  record  or  by  the  number  and  quality  of  the 
insane  in  their  asylums,  the  race  now  inhabiting  the 
oldest  and  probably  the  worst  of  our  penal  settlements 
was  as  orderly,  flourishing,  and  well-to-do  as  any  other 
colony,  and  altogether  bore  most  favourable  com- 
parison with  any  other  portion  of  the  British  stock  at 
home  or  abroad. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Shaw,  Editor  of  the  "  Tasmanian  News," 
writing  to  the  "  Scotsman  "  of  November  2ist,  1912, 
recalls  this  incident  and  letter.  He  mentions  that  he 
had  a  correspondence  with  Sir  William  on  this  subject, 
and  that  the  latter  wrote  to  the  following  effect :  "I 


io6      Heredity  and  Environment 

look  upon  the  case  of  Tasmania  as  one  of  the  most 
hopeful  and  animating  barriers  to  oppose  to  that  kind 
of  quasi-scientific  pessimism  which  tends  to  look  upon 
all  criminal  and  insane  tendencies  as  an  ineradicable 
taint,  and  thus  to  circumscribe  the  actions  of  free-will 
in  the  individual,  and  discourage  reformatory  and 
punitive  measures  alike  on  the  part  of  the  State." 

From  the  scientific  standpoint  it  is  impossible  to 
secure  a  more  positive  demonstration  of  the  non- 
heredity  of  crime  and  of  the  benefit  of  a  new  environ- 
ment. This  one  instance  alone  would  show  that  our 
ancestors  were  not  lacking  in  wisdom  in  dealing  with 
criminals  by  the  method  of  transportation.  Not  only 
was  it  wise  in  regard  to  the  criminal  and  his  de- 
scendants, but  it  resulted  in  no  evil  of  a  direct  or  con- 
taminating kind  to  the  people  among  whom  they  were 
sent.  An  observed  phenomenon  of  this  kind  ought  to 
make  the  Eugenists  pause.  "  Facts  are  chiels  that 
wanna  ding,"  and  it  ought  to  be  realised  that  what 
is  wanted  for  the  higher  evolution  of  the  race  is  not 
breeding  from  a  select  few — of  individuals  or  classes 
— but  a  better  environment  for  the  people  as  a  whole. 
Degenerative  tendencies  of  all  kinds  will  soon  be  elimi- 
nated by  this  means  alone,  and  the  "  quasi-scientific 
pessimism  "  of  the  Eugenists  will  be  heard  no  more. 
It  is  indeed  cause  for  joy  that  such  an  authority  can  be 
called  to  our  aid  in  annihilating  the  prevalent  idea  that 
"  all  criminal  and  insane  tendencies  are  to  be  looked 
upon  as  ineradicable  taints  and  thus  circumscribe  the 
actions  of  free-will  in  the  individual." 

Mr.  Owen  Seaman  has  emphasised  this  idea  in  his 
beautiful  poem  on  the  late  Dr.  Barnado  : 

"  Naked,  he  clothed  them  ;    hungry,  gave  them  food  ; 

Homeless  and  sick,  a  hearth  and  healing  care  ; 
Led  them  from  haunts  where  vice  and  squalor  brood 
To  gardens  clean  and  fair. 


Heredity  and  Environment      107 

"  By  birthright  pledged  to  misery,  crime  and  shame — 

Jetson  of  London's  streets,  her  waifs  and  strays, 
Whom  she,  the  mother,  bore  without  a  name 
And  left,  and  went  her  ways — 

"  He  stooped  to  save  them,  set  them  by  his  side, 

Breathed  conscious  life  into  the  still-born  soul, 
Taught  truth  and  honour,  love  and  loyal  pride, 
Courage  and  self-control. 

"  Till  of  her  manhood  here  and  overseas 

On  whose  supporting  strength  her  state  is  throned 
None  better  serves  the  Motherland  than  these, 
Her  sons — the  once  disowned." 

We  think  we  may  say  that  most  good  people  who  read 
this  poem  would  agree  with  its  purport  and  yet  con- 
sider themselves  justified  in  the  same  breath,  almost,  in 
denying  that  the  theory  of  heredity  was  exploded ;  but 
if  the  facts  are  as  stated  in  regard  to  alcohol,  and  if  the 
results  of  a  better  environment  are  as  good  as  has  been 
proved  in  the  case  of  the  noble  work  inaugurated  by 
Mrs.  Meredith  and  now  carried  on  by  Miss  Lloyd  at 
Addlestone,  and  at  Dr.  Barnardo's  Homes,  then  it  is 
not  only  absurd,  but  unscientific  to  uphold  any  longer 
the  "  dead  hand "  of  heredity.  Moreover,  our  re- 
formatories, and  asylums,  and  schools  are  regulated 
nowadays  in  such  a  manner  as  to  indicate  that,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  we  do  approve  of  a  good 
environment,  and  that  we  do  not  believe  heredity  to 
exert  the  fatal  influence  with  which  it  was  credited 
until  recently.  Would  that  our  jails  and  penitentiaries 
were  conducted  on  similar  lines !  An  attempt  is 
being  made  to  improve  these  institutions,  but  a  great 
deal  ought  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  moulding  the 
criminal,  by  a  more  beautiful  and  cultured  environ- 
ment. The  inmate  of  these  places  of  detention  has  it 
rubbed  into  him  every  hour  of  the  day  that  he  is  the 
enemy  of  society,  and  this  is  the  treatment  to  be  meted 


io8      Heredity  and  Environment 

out  to  him  to  the  end.  Unfortunately,  the  altruism  of 
Christianity  has  not  penetrated  so  far  as  the  interior  of 
our  prison-houses,  but  once  it  does  it  will  be  better  for 
the  criminal,  and  for  the  world  to  which  many  of  them 
will  return.  Is  it  not  the  height  of  folly  to  treat  the 
man  who  has  lapsed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  him, 
as  long  as  he  lives,  the  enemy  of  society,  with  his 
heart  full  of  hatred  and  desire  of  vengeance,  when  he 
might  by  wise  means  be  made  contrite  in  heart  and 
consumed  with  a  wish  to  do  better  ?  When  will  men 
overcome  their  prejudices  in  regard  to  this  important 
question  ?  They  believe  experience  has  taught  certain 
methods  to  be  the  only  available ;  unfortunately,  the 
limitation  of  the  human  intellect  causes  only  a  repeti- 
tion and  perpetuation  of  their  own  errors  ;  the  only 
hope  is  that  in  time  they  will  give  ear  to  scientific  in- 
vestigation and  act  accordingly.  Of  man's  folly  in  this 
regard  we  are  tempted  to  say  with  him  who  "  was  not 
for  an  age  but  for  all  time  "  : 

"Man,  proud  man,  dressed  in  a  little  brief  authority, 
Most  ignorant  of  what  he's  most  assured, 
Plays  such  fantastic  tricks  before  high  Heaven 
As  make  the  angels  weep." 

The  Mendelian  theory  has  given  a  fillip  to  the  already 
tottering  position  of  this  law  of  heredity.  Messrs.  Dewar 
and  Finn,  in  the  "  Making  of  Species,"  from  which  we 
have  already  quoted,  are  of  opinion  that  Mendel's  ex- 
periments are  of  great  importance,  but,  they  add,  "  as 
is  usual  in  such  cases,  his  disciples  have  greatly  exag- 
gerated the  value  and  importance  of  his  work.  They 
apply  only  to  a  limited  number  of  cases.  .  .  .  The 
phenomena  of  inheritance  seem  to  be  far  more  complex 
than  the  thoroughgoing  Mendelian  would  have  us 
believe."  We  are  content  to  leave  it  at  that,  as  it 
would  be  quite  impossible  for  us  to  elucidate  anything 
further  from  the  experiments.  We  are  quite  prepared 


Heredity  and  Environment       109 

to  argue,  however,  that  they  do  not  controvert  any  of 
our  previous  statements,  as,  in  any  case,  they  prove 
nothing  more  than  we  have  admitted :  that  the  individual 
inherits  only  the  characteristics  of  the  genus  from 
which  he  was  propagated,  plus  some  physical  features 
of  his  parents  or  grandparents,  which  allow  of  that 
slight  individual  variation  which  exists  amongst  the 
different  members  of  every  species.  In  the  case  of 
Man,  the  qualities  of  mind  make  the  study  of  this 
question  immeasurably  more  intricate,  but  the  fact 
remains  in  equal  degree  for  him  that  he  inherits  the 
characteristics  of  the  "  genus  homo  sapiens,"  with  some 
special  features,  such  as  colour  of  eye  or  hair,  shape  of 
head  or  nose,  height  or  breadth  of  body,  but  his  ulti- 
mate condition  physically,  intellectually,  and  morally 
depend  entirely  upon  environment.  Dewar  and  Finn 
have  an  illuminating  passage  which  bears  on  this 
subject.  Writing  on  the  fertilised  egg,  they  say  : 
"  Our  conception  is  that  it  is  composed  of  a  number  of 
entities,  to  which  we  have  given  the  name  '  biological 
molecules,'  because  in  certain  respects  their  behaviour 
is  not  unlike  chemical  molecules.  The  units  which  com- 
pose these  molecules,  being  made  up  of  protoplasm, 
are  endowed  with  all  the  properties  of  life,  including 
the  inherent  instability  which  characterises  all  living 
matter."  This  inherent  instability  must  always  be 
borne  in  mind  in  explaining  isolated  cases  of  genius  on 
the  one  hand,  or  of  degradation  on  the  other.  We  are 
too^often  inclined  to  use  the  word  "  reversion,"  and 
thus  give  undue  importance  to  the  idea  of  heredity, 
when  the  designation  "  sport  "  would  be  more  appro- 
priate— one  of  those  unstable  productions  which  is 
characteristic  of  all  living  matter.  As  we  have  pointed 
out  already,  nothing  is  so  evanescent  as  these  indi- 
vidual variations  ;  in  a  state  of  nature  they  are  imme- 
diately destroyed  by  the  potent  influence  of  marriage. 


no       Heredity  and  Environment 

Let  us  recall  an  instance  already  given :  man  has  been 
able  by  careful  selection  to  produce  on  the  one  hand 
the  racehorse  ;  on  the  other,  the  heavy  and  powerful 
draught-horse,  such  as  the  well-known  "  Clydesdale." 
If  the  process  of  selection  is  not  most  carefully  guarded 
in  either  variety,  their  particular  characteristics  tend 
ere  long  to  disappear,  and  nature  brings  back  the 
average  type.  It  is  also  a  striking  fact,  as  Dewar  and 
Finn  have  pointed  out,  that  if  you  isolate  the  race-  and 
draught-horses,  keeping  them  entirely  apart,  you  will 
find  that  instead  of  diverging  more  and  more  as  time 
goes  on,  which  we  would  naturally  expect,  they  tend  to 
become  more  and  more  like  one  another.  This  is  not 
reversion  :  it  is  the  strong  generic  influence  destroying 
the  mutations  and  bringing  the  different  varieties  back 
to  the  average  of  the  genus.  That  is  what  heredity 
means  and  what  heredity  can  do. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  different  classes  into  which 
man  is  artificially  divided.  Mr.  Galton  has  dealt  with 
this  matter  in  regard  to  genius.  Remarkable  sons 
succeed  remarkable  parents,  he  says,  and  nephews  of 
the  first  distinguished  man  display  as  great,  if  not 
greater  talents  than  himself.  But  of  many  cases 
adduced,  in  none  is  the  inheritance  carried  beyond  the 
fourth  generation,  and  he  also  points  out  that  the 
highest  display  of  genius  is  found  in  the  first  or  second 
generation,  after  which  decadence  sets  in,  or,  as  we  may 
say,  the  return  to  the  average,  which  is  what  we  would 
expect. 

If  that  is  true  of  the  aristocracy  of  intellect,  it  can  be 
proved  to  be  as  true  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  aris- 
tocracy of  birth,"  implying,  as  the  phrase  does,  that 
the  "  breed  "  or  "  blood  "  can  only  be  continued  by 
the  heredity  of  the  upper  classes,  who  claim  to  be  the 
ruling  classes,  and  until  recently  asserted  their  belief 
in  the  possession  of  a  special  legislative  instinct  which 


Heredity  and  Environment 


in 


came  solely  by  heredity.  To  the  scientific  and  logical 
mind  it  must  always  have  been  apparent  that  the 
particular  manners  and  attributes  of  this  class  were 
solely  the  result  of  environmental  influences  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  child  born  into  these  privileged 
families,  and  that  any  legislative  capacity  of  which  a 
scion  of  any  great  house  might  give  evidence  was  either 
the  result  of  very  careful  training  in  this  particular 
direction,  or  appeared  as  a  "  sport,"  just  as  great 
ability  or  genius  may  appear  in  any  class  of  the  com- 
munity. But  the  striking  fact  remains  that  great 
literary  ability  and  genius  appear  in  less  proportion 
among  the  aristocracy  than  any  other  ;  they  are  more 
likely  to  appear  in  the  middle  or  poorer  classes.  A  few 
examples  will  serve,  such  as  Burns,  Shakespeare,  the 
Elizabethan  dramatists,  Thomas  Carry le,  Tennyson, 
Keats,  Wordsworth,  and  many  others.  Indeed,  with 
the  exception  of  Lord  Byron,  it  is  difficult  to  recall  men 
of  high  literary  attainment  who  have  come  from  the 
aristocratic  class.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the 
atmosphere  of  luxury  in  which  they  live  tends  to 
produce  a  gradual  loss  of  virility.  The  members  of  this 
class  tend  to  become  effete,  and  die  out  sometimes  in  a 
few  generations.  They  require  constant  resuscitation 
from  the  lower  orders,  from  those  who  have  remained 
more  in  contact  with  nature,  and  are  thus  better  fitted 
to  continue  the  species.  This  is  evident  every  day 
from  the  constant  influx  into  the  second  Chamber  of 
the  most  brilliant  intellects  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
They  are  sent  to  another  place  in  order  to  reinvigorate 
a  chamber  which  would  die  of  inanition  if  its  legislative 
capacity  depended  solely  on  hereditary  gift. 

The  same  applies  to  the  mere  survival  of  this  class 
as  a  whole.  A  writer  in  the  "  Contemporary  Review  " 
some  years  ago  stated — apparently  on  the  authority  of 
Burke's  "Peerage" — that  since  1840  thirty  peers  or 


1 1 2      Heredity  and  Environment 

eldest  sons  of  peers  have  found  wives  in  America,  and 
of  these  thirteen  are  childless  ;  other  five  have  no 
sons,  and  the  remaining  twelve  have  only  thirty- 
nine  children,  whereof  eighteen  are  sons  ;  and  that  of 
other  forty-four  titled  Americans  (excluding  wives  of 
knights)  seventeen  have  no  child,  and  eight  only  one. 
Thus  of  the  seventy-four  titled  Americans  (excluding 
wives  of  knights)  thirty  are  childless,  fourteen  have 
only  one,  and  the  children  of  the  seventy-four  number 
only  107 — an  average  of  less  than  one  and  a  half  per 
family.  The  writer  points  with  satisfaction  to  the 
superior  fertility  of  the  colonials,  for  of  the  wives  of 
twenty-three  peers  or  eldest  sons  of  peers  who  married 
in  the  colonies,  four  have  no  children,  but  the  remaining 
nineteen  have  sixty-three,  of  whom  twenty-nine  are 
sons ;  while  seventy-two  colonial  wives  of  Englishmen 
with  courtesy  titles  or  of  baronets  have  203  children. 
The  ninety-five  colonial  wives  have  266  children — an 
average  of  two  and  three-quarters  per  family.  The 
estimated  average  English  family  in  the  same  period 
was  over  four,  but  probably  the  families  in  the  cor- 
responding classes  in  England  were  no  larger  than  the 
colonial.  The  article  goes  on  to  ask  if  President  Roose- 
velt or  the  Bishop  of  London  dare  say  that  the  failure 
of  the  eighteen  American  peeresses  to  have  heirs  was 
wilful,  or  deny  them  an  eager  desire  to  have  the  glory 
of  presenting  their  husbands  with  an  heir  to  the  title. 
Nature,  to  ensure  maintenance  of  the  species,  has  deeply 
implanted  in  woman's  nature  the  maternal  instinct, 
and  in  some  cases  at  least  it  is  as  potent  as  self-preser- 
vation. It  may  be  defeated,  as  suicides  defeat  the 
instinct  to  live,  and  perhaps  the  cases  where  a  healthy 
childless  wife  seeks,  without  some  special  reason  more 
or  less  excusable,  to  evade  maternity,  may  compare  in 
number  not  very  favourably  with  those  of  suicide.  The 
frivolities  and  follies  of  a  small  section  of  wealthy 


Heredity  and  Environment      113 

society  are  not  a  cause  of  infertility  but  a  consequence. 
A  wife,  without  intellectual  resources,  disappointed  in 
her  natural  instincts,  seeks  distraction  in  society  that 
she  would  gladly  exchange  for  motherhood  and  home. 
Perhaps  this  ought  to  be  stated  as  a  general  rule,  for 
there  are  no  doubt  mothers  of  children  who  prefer  a  life 
of  folly  to  that  of  duty,  but  we  know  that  in  such  a 
case  we  have  to  do  with  a  form  of  morbidity  induced  by 
a  life  of  luxury,  or  it  may  be  individual  weakness  of  the 
nerve  centres  with  feeble  power  of  inhibition,  per- 
mitting the  disregard  of  the  maternal  functions,  which 
are  the  desire  of  the  average  woman,  who,  fortunately, 
is  the  good  woman. 

The  loss  of  the  power  of  child-bearing  in  this  class  is 
due  to  two  causes — inbreeding  and  the  effect  of  an 
environment  of  luxury.  An  aristocratic  family  in 
which  marriage  is  stringently  limited  to  members  of 
other  families  of  the  same  class  is  believed  not  to  sur- 
vive longer  than  200  years,  and  therefore  requires 
constant  renewal  from  the  more  virile  class  which  comes 
next  in  the  social  scale.  The  middle  classes  are  con- 
stantly receiving  members  from  the  workers  ;  so  that 
in  this  way  a  constant  cycle  goes  on,  and  is  very 
necessary  if  the  upper  classes  are  to  survive.  It  is  not 
only  money  that  attracts  the  scions  of  our  aristocracy 
towards  the  daughters  of  wealthy  Americans  :  it  is 
prompted,  in  addition,  by  the  desire  to  preserve  or 
resuscitate  the  virility  and  energy  of  the  family  which 
they  represent. 

We  are  therefore  driven  to  the  conclusion  that,  as 
Dr.  Schofield  said,  "  the  palmy  days  of  heredity  are 
over";  that  a  man  inherits  only  the  characteristics  and 
instincts  of  the  genus  homo,  plus  a  very  few  attributes 
of  form  and  feature.  His  higher  attributes  and  power 
for  good  and  evil,  his  evolution  physically,  intellectually, 
and  spiritually  depend  entirely  on  environment. 


1 1 4      Heredity  and  Environment 

We  have  proved  that  the  environment  of  the  "  sub- 
merged third "  of  the  British  nation  is  the  worst 
possible  environment  for  the  evolution  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  race,  and  that  of  the  privileged  aristo- 
cratic class  is  even  worse,  as  it  produces — what  that 
of  the  lower  orders  certainly  does  not — an  incapaci- 
ty for  the  propagation  of  the  species.  So  much  is 
this  the  case  that  but  for  its  constant  renewal  from 
below,  as  pointed  out  already,  the  aristocracy  would 
become  increasingly  sterile,  and  finally  disappear. 
This  argument  shows  how  fallacious  it  is  to  try  to  con- 
tinue the  constitution  of  society  on  its  present  lines, 
and  that  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  alter  the  environ- 
ment of  the  poor,  not  in  the  first  place  in  their  own 
interest,  but  in  order  to  improve  the  general  stamina 
of  the  nation.  If  society  is  constantly  renewed  from 
below,  it  follows  that  at  present  we  are  doing  our 
utmost  to  keep  down  the  general  physique,  because  it 
is  poisoned  at  its  source  by  bad  air,  filth,  insufficient 
clothing  and  food.  We  start  society  with  a  weak 
strain,  which  is  bound  to  be  felt  in  the  upper  strata. 
If  we  wish  to  benefit  the  nation  as  a  whole,  and  par- 
ticularly the  unborn  generations  which  are  to  follow, 
it  is  clear  that  we  must  give  the  children  of  the  workers 
of  the  nation  the  best  possible  environment,  so  as  to 
secure  them  a  good  start  and  the  opportunity  of  stead- 
fast progress  in  well-being  from  infancy  to  manhood, 
and  not  forgetting  to  surround  them  with  the  accumu- 
lated culture  of  the  ages  in  the  shape  of  education  on 
the  best  lines,  and  a  wise  selection  of  the  best  thought 
of  the  best  minds  of  the  past.  Before  many  generations 
were  over  the  impetus  towards  a  higher  order  of  things 
would  be  felt ;  society  would  be  regenerated  from  be- 
low ;  the  physique  of  every  class  would  benefit,  and 
health,  happiness,  and  all-pervading  culture  would  be 
the  order  of  the  day. 


Heredity  and  Environment       115 

We  have  already  quoted  what  Huxley  has  said  in 
regard  to  la  misere  ;  and  the  Scots  poet  Burns,  who 
has  been  justly  called  "  the  poet  of  democracy,"  and 
whose  heart  was  full  of  love  to  all  mankind,  indeed  to 
all  nature,  was  well  aware  from  personal  experience  of 
the  misery  of  the  poor,  and  the  struggle  required  to 
"  breast  the  force  of  circumstance,  and  break  his  birth's 
invidious  bar,"  and  this  it  was  that  made  him  write 
"  Man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  thousands 
mourn."  Tennyson  has  given  expression  to  the  same 
thought : 

"  Ah  yet,  we  cannot  be  kind  to  each  other  here  for  an  hour; 
We  whisper,  and  hint,  and  chuckle,  and  grin  at  a  brother's 

shame  ; 
However  we  brave  it  out,  we  men  are  a  little  breed." 

Again : 

"  Peace,  sitting  under  her  olive,  and  slurring  the  days  gone  by, 
When  the  poor  are  hovell'd  and  hustled  together,  each  sex, 

like  swine  ; 

When  only  the  ledger  lives,  and  not  only  not  all  men  lie; 
Peace  in  her  vineyard — Yes  ! — but  a  company  forges  the 
wine."  ("MAUD.") 

While  things  are  so  in  our  midst  it  would  seem  quite 
impossible  to  realise  or  even  approach  to  the  Christian 
ideal.  We  hope  to  prove  later  that  this  is  in  progress 
even  now,  and  will  be  accomplished  with  the  evolution 
of  a  higher  ethical  development.  At  one  extreme  we 
have  the  aristocracy  without  work — real  work,  bene- 
ficent work — of  any  kind  to  perform,  only,  as  a  rule,  a 
life  of  luxurious  ease  and  the  selfish  grab  for  wealth 
which  labour  alone  creates  ;  at  the  other  extreme, 
poverty,  misery,  excess  of  labour,  and  no  leisure  or 
comfort  in  which  to  develop  the  higher  qualities  of  the 
mind.  As  at  present  constituted,  it  is  only  among  the 
middle  class  that  anything  approaching  the  ideal  life 
is  possible.  In  this  class  there  is  work,  but  not  too 


1 1 6      Heredity  and  Environment 

much,  and  there  is  freedom  from  poverty  and  carking 
care,  and  from  the  constant  temptation  towards  excess 
and  vice,  and  there  is  leisure  which  can  be  devoted  to 
the  higher  development  of  each  individual,  physically, 
intellectually,  and  ethically. 

It  is  evident  that  it  is  no  less  necessary  to  alter  the 
environment  of  the  "  idle  rich,"  "  who  toil  not,  neither 
do  they  spin,"  than  that  of  the  millions  in  poverty, 
whose  hours  of  labour  are  much  too  long.  No  doubt 
many  of  them  work  and  do  not  spare  themselves  ; 
some  are  philanthropists  and  statesmen,  who  "  scorn 
delights  and  live  laborious  days  "  in  order  to  benefit 
their  fellow-men.  These,  who  are  the  exception,  do  not 
require  any  change  in  their  surroundings  as  far  as  they 
personally  are  concerned.  But  we  have  to  do  with 
average  men  and  women,  who  cannot  thrive  in  an 
atmosphere  of  luxury.  It  is  bad  for  the  individual  and 
for  the  raec,  as  the  tendency  is  towards  extinction  in 
process  of  time  unless  rejuvenated  from  the  lower 
orders.  Until  society  ceases  to  have  castes  or  orders, 
and  every  man  has  sufficient  for  his  needs  and  leisure 
to  develop  his  higher  nature,  there  can  be  no  improve- 
ment or  rejuvenation  of  the  race.  A  healthy  environ- 
ment for  all  men,  without  distinction  of  rank  or  wealth, 
is  an  absolute  necessity  if  this  is  to  be  attained.  As  we 
have  said,  we  hope  to  prove  that  the  attainment  of  this 
ideal  is  in  process  now  and  will  reach  complete  fulfil- 
ment in  course  of  time.  It  will  doubtless  be  a  long 
process,  for  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly.  But  there 
must  be  few  who,  once  they  have  grasped  the  possi- 
bility of  the  realisation  of  the  ideal  state,  would  wish  to 
preserve  a  system  of  evil  environment  for  both  the 
workers  and  the  privileged  class,  and  an  atmosphere  of 
misery  and  pain  for  the  great  majority  of  mankind. 

We  all  know,  as  a  matter  of  experience,  that  as  a  rule 
the  worst  thing  that  can  happen  to  a  man  is  to  attain 


Heredity  and  Environment      117 

great  wealth.  Very  often  he  succumbs  to  luxury  and 
shortens  his  days.  Every  man  of  years  and  experience 
must  have  known  cases  of  this  nature,  and  the  sad 
thing  is  that  often  these  are  valuable  lives,  which  can 
ill  be  spared — men  of  strong  intellectual  vigour  and 
kind  hearts,  who,  losing  the  stimulus  of  work  and 
succumbing  to  the  so-called  joys  of  external  things, 
suffer  the  inevitable  Nemesis  of  all  departure  from 
nature  and  duty.  Again,  we  have  known  many  in- 
stances of  misery  to  both  parents  and  children  from  the 
same  cause.  The  sons  of  fathers  who  have  acquired 
wealth  soon  discover  that  work  is  not  necessary  to 
livelihood,  for  money  is  plentiful,  and  they  soon  yield 
to  temptation  ;  ere  long  they  are  wallowing  in  the 
sensual  mire  ;  they  are  soon  cut  off,  and  the  place  that 
knew  them  knows  them  no  more.  We  think  without  fear 
of  contradiction  we  may  assert  that  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  humanity  and  the  world  if  the  attainment  of 
great  wealth  were  denied  to  all  men,  even  in  the  present 
circumstances. 

All  the  religious  bodies  of  the  world  understand  the 
power  which  environment  gives  them  in  maintaining 
and  increasing  the  numbers  of  believers  in  their  re- 
spective creeds.  One  and  all  take  care  that,  either 
directly  through  the  priest  or  indirectly  by  means  of 
the  parent,  the  dogma  of  the  Church  shall  be  taught  to 
the  child  from  its  earliest  years,  and  that  its  ritual  shall 
environ  him.  It  is  recorded  that  a  great  Cardinal  of  the 
Roman  Church  once  said  :  "  Let  me  instruct  the  child 
up  to  seven  years  and  I  will  let  who  will  endeavour  to 
mould  his  thoughts  thereafter."  Doubtless  this  is  an 
exaggerated  statement  of  a  great  truth — that  the  early 
environment  of  the  child  moulds  the  whole  course  of 
his  life. 

And  not  only  the  Church,  but  mankind  as  a  whole 
realises  the  power  of  environment.  The  old  proverb, 


1 1 8      Heredity  and  Environment 

"  She  who  rocks  the  cradle  rules  the  world,"  proves 
this.  Of  its  truth  and  universal  application  there  can- 
not be  the  slightest  doubt ;  and  the  mothers  know  their 
power  and  exercise  it,  according  to  their  lights,  for  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  greatest  advantage  of  their  sons 
and  daughters.  It  can  be  said,  without  fear  of  con- 
tradiction, that  it  is  they  who  have  preserved  the 
ideals  of  Christian  ethics  in  our  Western  civilisation, 
and  in  this  way  more  than  any  other  they  can  be  said 
to  rule  the  world,  because  it  is  the  pervading  altruism 
of  Christianity  in  the  minds  of  men  which  is  regenerat- 
ing society,  and  is  the  motive  force  of  that  social 
legislation  which  has  as  its  aim  the  gradual  ameliora- 
tion and  elevation  of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  people. 
In  this  connection  we  may  refer  to  the  modern 
movement  of  the  emancipation  of  women.  There 
seems  little  doubt  that  the  mothers  of  the  nation  have 
little  desire  to  depart  from  their  own  sphere  and  inter- 
fere with  the  duties  of  man,  who  has  hitherto  in  the 
world's  history  always  regulated,  controlled,  policed, 
and  defended  the  nation  by  land  and  sea.  Woman 
physically  and  intellectually  is  unfitted  for  such  work, 
and  by  interfering  in  legislation — for  which  she  has 
no  faculty — will  only  damage  the  State  which  she  has 
done  so  much  to  build  and  elevate  by  means  of  her 
maternity  and  influence  upon  the  child.  The  scientific 
position  has  been  clearly  and  emphatically  stated  by 
Sir  Almroth  Wright.  There  can  be  no  doubt  the 
women  who  are  forcing  this  movement  and  smashing 
the  windows  of  harmless  tradespeople  who  have 
shown  no  hostility  to  their  cause,  and  who  assault 
Ministers  of  the  Crown  who  are  giving  the  best  of  their 
lives  in  the  service  of  the  people,  cannot  be  considered 
responsible  for  their  actions.  If  they  claim  that  they 
are  responsible,  then  clearly  they  belong  to  the  criminal 
classes  and  must  be  treated  as  such  without  fear  or 


Heredity  and  Environment      119 

favour.  In  any  case  their  mental  state  is  a  diseased 
one,  and  in  the  present  constitution  of  society  it  is  no 
doubt  a  very  difficult  problem  to  discover  means  to 
remove  this  morbid  development.  No  doubt  in  time 
this  will  be  done,  but  in  the  meantime  we  must  take 
care  that  this  movement  shall  not  abrogate  the  true 
function  of  woman,  which  gives  her  the  privilege  of 
ruling  the  world  by  means  of  her  influence  upon  the 
mind  of  the  child. 

Environment,  then,  we  are  entitled  to  consider  is  the 
chief  force  in  moulding  the  lives  of  men  and  influencing 
their  thoughts  and  the  future  of  the  race  for  good  or 
ill.  It  is  our  duty  to  see  that  it  is  for  good,  and  never  to 
forget  that  what  is  a  good  environment  for  one  is  good 
for  all.  That  is  why  we  must  act  always  in  order  to 
benefit  not  one  sect,  one  class,  one  tribe  or  nation,  but 
humanity.  In  this  way  only  can  we  hope  to  bring 
about  that  environment  which  shall  eventually  accom- 
plish the  highest  possible  development  of  each  unit  of 
the  race  physically,  intellectually,  and  spiritually. 

The  Eugenics  Congress  brought  prominently  before 
the  public  mind  many  interesting  points  in  regard  to 
heredity  and  environment.  We  have  already  quoted 
Mr.  Balfour's  opening  address,  and  it  is  with  much 
gratification  that  we  again  recall  some  of  his  statements. 
"  The  Eugenist  thinks  that  he  ought  deliberately  to 
consider  the  health,  the  character,  and  the  qualities  of 
succeeding  generations.  That  is  a  characteristic  of 
domestication  that  is  totally  absent  from  animals  in 
the  wild  state.  It  is  not  a  problem  of  the  individual, 
but  of  society.  We  sometimes  see  it  stated  that,  after  all, 
society  is  the  sum  of  the  individuals  that  compose  it. 
In  a  sense  that  is  true — the  whole  is  always  the  sum  of 
its  parts,  but  in  that  sense  it  is  quite  an  unmeaning  and 
useless  proposition.  In  the  only  sense  in  which  it 
means  anything  it  is  not  true  ;  and  whether  we  shall 


I2O      Heredity  and  Environment 

ever  know  exactly  how  a  complex  society  should  be 
composed,  and  how  we  ought  to  lead  up  to  its  proper 
composition — whether  we  shall  ever  get  that  degree  of 
knowledge  I  know  not ;  but  the  idea  that  you  can  get  a 
society  of  the  most  perfect  kind  by  merely  considering 
questions  about  the  strain  and  ancestry,  and  the  health 
and  physical  vigour  of  the  various  components  of  that 
society — that,  I  believe,  is  a  most  shallow  view  of  a 
most  difficult  question." 

Mr.  Balfour  has  fathomed  the  shallowness  of  the 
views  in  regard  to  heredity  which  have  held  sway  too 
long.  Strain  and  heredity  will  trouble  us  no  longer,  for 
the  reason  that  we  know  the  species  only  requires  a 
perfect  environment  to  secure  the  best  possible  indi- 
vidual units  physically  and  intellectually,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  by  conceding  full  play  to  that  spiritual 
evolution  which  is  working  and  will  continue  to  work 
with  ever-increasing  power,  to  enable  it  to  accomplish 
marvels  in  its  operation  upon  the  sum  of  those  units 
which  we  denominate  society.  All  we  require  to 
seek  after  is  the  evolution  of  a  better  and  better  en- 
vironment, and  all  other  things,  such  as  the  "  elimina- 
tion of  the  unfit,"  will  be  added  thereunto. 

A  good  deal  has  been  written  in  regard  to  the  Galton 
Laboratory  conclusions  from  the  Edinburgh  statistics, 
endeavouring  to  prove  that  the  children  of  parents  in 
slum  surroundings  are  not  prejudicially  affected  by  the 
heredity  of  alcohol.  It  is  not  endeavoured  to  prove 
that  the  alcoholic  habit  in  the  parent  is  beneficial ;  it 
only  suggests  that  most  probably  the  parent  who  can 
take  alcohol  in  large  quantity  is  of  stronger  physique 
than  the  parent  who  cannot.  But,  as  a  rule,  the  alcoholic 
propensity  is  one  absolutely  regardless  of  consequences 
— the  sole  desire  of  the  alcoholic  is  to  secure  the 
pleasures  of  approaching  intoxication,  which  is  craved 
for  just  as  often  by  the  weakly  as  the  strong.  The  real 


Heredity  and  Environment      1 2 1 

point,  however,  where  the  Galton  school  have  gone 
astray  is  their  failure  to  perceive  that  the  environ- 
ment of  all  the  children  is  so  essentially  bad  that  the 
addition  of  alcoholic  heredity  is  incapable  of  making 
it  any  worse.  To  adopt  the  deductions  of  these 
observers  is  to  interrupt  the  process  of  social  ameliora- 
tion and  the  attainment,  ultimately  and  progressively, 
of  a  perfect  environment.  Scientifically  their  conclu- 
sions are  devoid  of  support  from  observed  phenomena, 
and  are  undeserving  of  consideration  from  all  imbued 
with  the  scientific  spirit.  Altruistically  they  can  only 
be  classified  as  deplorable,  and  ought  to  be  a  warning 
to  all  sociologists  to  beware  of  the  deductions  of  the 
Galton  Laboratory. 

The  observations  of  the  same  school  on  tuberculosis, 
which  seem  to  prove  that  a  congested  population  and 
limitation  of  the  free  air  of  heaven  are  not  deleterious 
to  cases  of  phthisis,  are  opposed  to  all  experience  of 
those  best  able  to  judge.  Their  observations  upon  this 
subject  must  be  treated  as  proceeding  from  too  limited 
a  field  of  study.  We  must  attend  only  to  the  advice 
of  experienced  students  of  tubercle  and  its  treatment, 
and  never  cease  to  seek  after  the  attainment  of  a 
perfect  environment  for  every  member  of  the  human 
family. 

The  Eugenics  Congress  as  a  whole  proved  most  in- 
structive. The  trend  of  opinion  of  those  best  able  to 
judge  was  that  the  sole  requirement  of  the  human  family 
was  a  perfect  environment .  Heredity  was  relegated  to  its 
proper  place,  and  put  out  of  account  in  race  progress. 
The  stock  of  the  human  family  will  always  be  strong 
and  virile  if  it  gets  a  fair  chance,  whatever  its  origin  of 
race  or  class  may  be.  Given  the  environment  best 
suited  to  the  race,  and  a  continuance  of  the  best  condi- 
tions, it  will  be  found  impossible  to  have  anything  but 
a  continuously  perfect  physical  strain. 


122      Heredity  and  Environment 

Sir  John  Macdonell's  remarks  on  the  report  of  Mr. 
Van  Wagenen  on  the  results  of  the  law  authorising  or 
requiring  sterilisation  of  certain  classes  of  defectives, 
degenerates,  and  criminals  in  eight  of  the  States  of  the 
American  Union  were  of  the  greatest  importance,  and 
ought  to  arrest  the  attention  of  all  students  of  sociology. 
He  protested  against  the  habitual  or  even  the  confirmed 
criminal  being  treated  in  this  manner.  The  criminal, 
he  said,  was  really  a  by-product  of  the  slums  or  other 
forms  of  poverty,  and  there  was  no  warrant  for  the 
theory  that  he  was  the  victim  of  certain  mental  or 
physical  defects  which  he  could  transmit  to  his  progeny. 
The  criminal  had  in  him  the  potentiality  of  good  things. 

Professor  Smith,  of  Minnesota  University,  voiced  the 
true  scientific  attitude  in  regard  to  heredity  and  en- 
vironment by  his  striking  assertion  that  he  would 
prefer  to  have  as  father  a  robust  burglar  rather  than 
a  consumptive  bishop,  though  he  should  be  glad  to  be 
adopted  into  another  family  very  soon  after  birth.  With 
a  proper  environment,  consumption  would  soon  cease  to 
be  thought  of  from  the  hereditary  standpoint.  In  the 
past  it  was  the  compulsory  environment  of  the  tubercle 
bacillus  which  created  the  widespread  belief  in  the 
heredity  of  phthisis.  In  all  probability  he  would  be  as 
well  off  as  the  son  of  a  consumptive  bishop  if  he  were 
at  once  adopted  into  a  healthy  family  after  his  birth. 
It  is  quite  as  necessary  to  remove  him  from  the  con- 
sumptive bishop  from  the  physical  point  of  view  as 
to  separate  him  from  the  immoral  influence  of  the 
burglar  parent  from  the  ethical  standpoint.  But  the 
statement,  as  a  whole,  is  an  emphatic  vindication  of 
the  view  advanced  for  the  physical,  intellectual,  and 
ethical  evolution  of  Man — the  progressive  ultimate 
achievement  of  a  perfect  environment,  and  of  the  ex- 
ploded influence  of  the  "dead  hand"  of  heredity,  which 
is  void  of  influence  except  in  so  far  as  it  perpetuates 


Heredity  and  Environment      123 

the  characteristics  of  the  "  genus  homo  sapiens." 
There  is  continuity  ot  the  germ-plasm — which  Weis- 
mann  fathomed  was  the  means  by  which  continuity  of 
type  was  secured,  and  is  the  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  variations  are  not  perpetuated,  but  are  quickly 
submerged  and  a  return  to  the  average  necessitated. 

It  establishes  heredity  as  an  unalterable  entity, 
limited  in  its  operation  to  the  anatomy  and  physiology 
of  the  species,  and  conceding  full  play  to  environment, 
which,  for  good  or  ill,  so  potently  affects  his  health, 
intellect,  and  morals. 

Professor  Smith's  statement  gives  strong  support  to 
Mr.  Balfour's  contention  that  you  cannot  get  a  society 
of  the  most  perfect  kind  by  merely  considering  ques- 
tions about  the  strain  and  ancestry,  the  health  and 
physical  vigour  of  the  various  components  of  that 
society.  He  points  out  that  although  parents  of  talent 
were  able  to  give  exceptional  advantages  to  their 
children,  and  ought  to  show  a  greater  number  of 
successful  offspring,  yet  we  find  not  the  slightest  evi- 
dence that  any  particular  talent  is  ever  inherited. 
Luther,  Napoleon,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Beethoven, 
Mozart,  Wagner,  Shakespeare,  Burns,  Keats,  Shelley, 
Michelangelo,  Hogg,  Carlyle  were  all  "  sports," 
or,  what  he  aptly  terms,  "  biological  surprises."  Saint- 
hood comes  under  the  same  category  as  genius ;  St. 
Francis  d'  Assisi,  Catherine  of  Sienna,  Florence 
Nightingale  had  no  ancestry  calculated  to  produce 
their  character  and  work.  He  points  out,  moreover, 
that  many  of  the  most  efficient  were  in  early  years  so 
weak  and  diseased  as  to  be  classified  as  "  unfit,"  and  if 
the  views  of  some  eugenists  were  to  prevail,  ought  to 
have  been  eliminated  in  the  interests  of  society  and  of 
the  race.  Immanuel  Kant  was  warned  of  the  danger 
of  study  at  the  university  ;  he  ignored  his  weak  chest, 
studied  philosophy,  and  became  the  great  teacher  of 


1 24      Heredity  and  Environment 

the  modern  intellect.  Herbert  Spencer  was  so  delicate 
as  to  be  unable  to  receive  a  regular  education,  yet  he 
became  one  of  the  most  potent  forces  of  his  generation. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  similarly  was  one  of  the  frailest  of 
children.  The  conclusion  of  this  epoch-making  address 
is  deserving  of  continual  repetition :  "  Nearly  all 
children  are  well  born.  With  a  wider  knowledge  of 
hygiene,  a  better  distribution  of  wealth  and  leisure,  and 
a  higher  sense  of  personal  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
the  parents,  the  problem  of  heredity  from  the  physical 
point  of  view  would  practically  vanish.  The  tragedy  of 
the  world  was  spoiled  babies." 

Dr.  Devine,  of  New  York,  strongly  supported  his 
compatriot.  What  was  wrong,  he  said,  with  those  who 
were  giving  trouble  to  society  was  not  that  they  were  of 
a  defective  ancestry,  or  had  some  evil  in  their  blood, 
but  that  they  had  not  had  a  fair  or  decent  opportunity. 

Prince  Kropotkin  poured  a  wealth  of  satire  upon  the 
crude  idea  of  the  sterilisation  of  the  unfit.  Who  were 
the  people  they  proposed  to  sterilise  ?  he  asks.  The 
idlers  or  the  workers  ?  The  women  of  the  working 
classes  who  suckled  their  children,  or  the  women  of  the 
upper  classes  who,  by  neglecting  to  do  this,  showed 
their  unfitness  for  maternity  ?  Those  who  produced 
degenerates  in  slums,  or  those  who  produced  them  in 
palaces  ? 

On  the  whole,  the  impression  left  on  the  mind  by  the 
trend  of  thought  of  the  Congress  fills  one  with  deep 
satisfaction.  In  addition  to  the  views  expressed  as  to 
the  all-importance  of  a  perfect  environment  and  the 
cessation  of  the  undue  preponderance  formerly  conceded 
to  heredity,  there  is  evidenced  on  the  part  of  men  of 
the  widest  thought,  culture,  and  scientific  attainment 
a  recognition  of  the  lesson  of  history,  and  the  spiritual 
evolution  underlying  all  advance,  and  compelling  the 
steady  march  on  to  the  city  of  God.  It  was  with  the 


Heredity  and  Environment      125 

deepest  satisfaction  that  one  detected  this  influence 
in  the  opening  address  of  the  president  ;  two  passages 
are  well  worthy  of  record.  "  It  was  true,"  he  said, 
"  that  they  could  not  but  glory  in  this  saving  of  suffer- 
ing, for  the  spirit  which  led  to  the  protection  of  the 
weak  and  the  afflicted  was,  of  all  things,  that  which  was 
the  most  worth  preserving  on  earth.  .  .  .  The  end  they 
had  in  view — an  improvement  in  the  racial  qualities  of 
future  generations — was  noble  enough  to  give  them 
courage  for  the  fight.  Their  first  effort  must  be  to 
establish  such  a  moral  code  as  would  ensure  that  the 
welfare  of  the  unborn  should  be  held  in  view  in  connec- 
tion with  all  questions  concerning  both  the  marriage 
of  the  individual  and  the  organisation  of  the  State." 
We  have  here  a  complete  vindication  of  Benjamin 
Kidd's  law  of  the  spiritual  evolution  of  man,  the  main 
theme  of  whose  thesis  is  that  man  is  every  day  becoming 
more  and  more  religious,  as  evidenced  by  the  growth  of 
self-denial  and  altruism,  this  being  shown  more  par- 
ticularly in  regard  to  the  perfecting  of  the  environ- 
ment of  the  generations  of  men  who  are  to  succeed 
those  already  existing.  We  may  now  say  with  confi- 
dence that  our  thesis  is  no  longer  tentative  ;  it  is  an 
established  fact,  proved  by  the  study  of  observed 
phenomena,  and  must  continue  to  mould  the  thoughts 
and  actions  of  men  with  ever-increasing  power  from 
generation  to  generation. 

Mr.  Hector  Macpherson  in  summing  up  the  conclu- 
sions to  be  drawn  from  the  Conference  says  some  strik- 
ing things  well  worthy  of  attention.  "  Man,  unlike  the 
lower  animals,  is  not  completely  at  the  mercy  of  mate- 
rial laws.  We  attribute  the  vast  difference  between  the 
man  of  to-day  and  his  savage  ancestor  to  civilisation, 
but,  after  all,  what  is  civilisation  but  a  colossal  environ- 
ment as  a  check  upon  his  hereditary  animality.  We  hear 
talk  of  the  great  work  of  natural  selection  when  not 


126      Heredity  and  Environment 

interfered  with  leading  to  survival  of  the  fittest.  Why, 
in  the  long  ages  of  conflict,  it  was  oftener  the  best  that 
were  killed  and  the  unfittest  that  survived.  Complaint 
is  sometimes  made  that  by  our  humanitarian  methods 
we  are  keeping  alive  numbers  who  in  early  times  would 
have  been  exterminated.  It  is  forgotten  that  in  earlier 
times  disease  killed  men  of  the  highest  type,  men  of 
genius,  who,  had  they  been  born  in  our  day,  would  be 
saved  for  the  benefit  of  civilisation.  By  all  means  let 
eugenists  grapple  with  the  problem  of  heredity,  but  do 
not  let  them  overlook  the  vast  importance  of  environ- 
ment." This  is  exactly  what  Professor  Karl  Pearson 
and  Miss  Elderton  have  done  in  regard  to  the  Edin- 
burgh statistics.  They  are  so  obsessed  by  "  heredity  " 
that  they  cannot  see  the  real  factor — environment. 
They  want  associated  with  them  in  such  work  a 
medical  man  of  experience  and  wide  outlook  who  would 
be  able  to  point  out  their  fallacies  and  direct  them  to 
the  true  cause  of  our  social  evils. 

Humanity  has  therefore  every  reason  to  hope,  "  to 
greet  the  unseen  with  a  cheer,"  for  who  can  limit  the 
summit  of  attainment  when  a  perfect  environment  has 
become  possible  to  all  members  of  the  species,  by  means 
of  the  operation  in  men's  minds  of  the  sublime  thought 
and  altruism  of  the  New  Testament,  directing  the 
progressive  spiritual  evolution  of  the  race  ?  May  we 
not  in  its  completion  be  able  to  say  of  the  whole  human 
family,  to  borrow  the  sublime  apostrophe  of  Hamlet : 
"  What  a  piece  of  work  is  Man  ;  how  noble  in  reason  ; 
how  infinite  in  faculty  ;  in  form,  in  moving,  how 
express  and  admirable  ;  in  action,  how  like  an  angel  ; 
in  apprehension,  how  like  a  god  ;  the  beauty  cf  the 
world  ;  the  paragon  of  animals  !  " 


Chapter  VII 
The  Lesson  of  History 

THE  history  of  humanity,  scientifically  con- 
sidered, is  not  of  very  ancient  date.  The  geolo- 
gists tell  us  that  the  remains  of  man  which  have  been 
found  take  one  back  very  long  periods  of  time  ;  so 
long  that  the  generally  accepted  idea  of  six  thousand 
years,  which  had  been  fixed  by  the  theologians,  is  dis- 
credited from  the  point  of  view  of  established  scientific 
data.  But  this  is  quite  immaterial  in  so  far  as  the 
ethical  evolution  of  man  is  concerned.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment is  a  historical  account  of  the  Jewish  race,  which 
is  most  valuable  from  this  point  of  view,  and  Matthew 
Arnold  deserves  especial  praise  for  his  elucidation  of 
the  lesson  it  teaches  in  his  work  "  Literature  and 
Dogma."  He  shows  that  there  we  have  the  evolution 
of  the  idea  of  God,  which  will  remain  to  the  everlasting 
credit  of  the  Jewish  people.  Beginning  with  a  purely 
anthropomorphic  conception,  it  develops  by  slow  steps 
and  sure  until  we  reach  the  exalted  thought  of  "  the 
Eternal — not  ourselves — that  maketh  for  righteous- 
ness," which,  as  a  definition  of  the  spiritual  idea  of  God 
and  His  relationship  to  man,  has  never  been  surpassed. 
This  concept  has  been  the  most  potent  influence  in  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  people  and  of  all  peoples  who  have 
come  under  the  sway  of  Christian  ethics.  The  same 
author  goes  on  to  elucidate  the  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  elaborates  the  idea  of  the  "  sweet 
reasonableness "  of  Jesus,  which  has  moulded  the 

127 


128        The  Lesson  of  History 

thoughts  of  men  and  totally  altered  the  history  of  our 
Western  civilisation.  Nowhere  has  this  influence  been 
more  lucidly  considered  than  in  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd's 
"  Social  Evolution,"  published  in  1902.  He  there  deals 
with  the  great  Greek  civilisation  and  the  rise  and  fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  He  shows  that  notwithstanding 
the  immense  intellectual  vigour  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
and  their  ethical  philosophy  of  a  very  high  order  there 
was  no  permanence  ;  like  a  great  meteor,  it  vanished 
into  the  empyrean,  never  again  to  reappear.  The 
Roman  civilisation — with  its  colossal  military  organisa- 
tion, with  its  great  inherent  force  and  energy,  possessed 
of  a  succession  of  rulers  of  extraordinary  intellectual 
gifts — passed  away  like  a  dream  of  the  night.  This  rise 
and  fall  of  empires  has  created  a  caste  of  thought  which 
prevails  at  the  present  day  among  nearly  all  civilised 
and  intellectual  men,  and  has  established  firmly  as  an 
axiom  of  history  the  idea  that  all  nations  from  small 
beginnings  come  to  maturity  and,  after  a  career  of  glory 
and  conquest  more  or  less  prolonged,  decline  and  pass 
into  that  obscurity  whence  they  came,  in  obedience  to 
an  immutable  law.  All  great  states  in  the  world's 
history  which  have  attained  to  pre-eminence  have,  in 
the  process  of  the  suns,  as  surely  declined  and  suffered 
eclipse.  It  is  therefore  at  the  present  time  an  article  of 
faith  with  the  vast  majority  of  mankind  that  just  as  a 
man  is  born  into  this  world,  attains  to  full  physical  and 
mental  vigour,  and  with  advancing  years  suffers  decay 
and  eventually  death,  so  it  is  with  nations  and  empires ; 
and  none  may  escape  this  unalterable  decree.  It  is 
permissible,  however,  at  this  stage  of  the  world's 
history  to  doubt  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  operation  of  this  law,  for  the  reason  that 
these  ancient  civilisations  were  founded  on  a  purely 
military  organisation  which  necessitated  the  total  sub- 
ordination of  the  masses  of  the  people  to  the  service  of 


The  Lesson  of  History         129 

the  state.  Thus  it  is  that  in  all  of  them  a  system  of 
slavery  is  a  necessity  of  its  existence.  There  was  no 
thought  on  the  part  of  the  rulers  of  raising  the  mass  of 
the  people  to  a  higher  plane  of  comfort  or  culture  ;  the 
idea  of  social  amelioration  was  unthought  of,  and  would 
have  been  abhorrent.  The  "  State  "  meant  the  interests 
of  Empire,  of  military  organisation  and  conquest,  and 
of  the  aristocracy  who  governed,  and  who  held  the 
"  plebs  "  as  slaves.  These  existed  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  fulfilling  the  behests  of  those  above  them  ;  they  were 
pawns  in  the  game,  deserving  no  consideration  but 
such  as  was  necessary  to  keep  them  alive,  and  efficient 
when  battles  had  to  be  fought  or  luxuries  gratified. 
The  individual  personal  satisfaction  of  the  members  of 
this  caste  was  an  idea  unthought  of,  and  would  have 
been  scouted  as  absurd  and  subversive  of  all  discipline 
and  continuity  of  government.  This  attitude  of  mind 
has  never  received  better  expression  than  in  the  lines 
put  by  Shakespeare  into  the  mouth  of  Coriolanus  when 
incensed  by  the  shouts  and  execrations  of  the  plebs  and 
their  demands  for  his  expulsion  from  the  city.  In 
indignation  and  scorn  he  hurls  back  their  taunts  and 
demands,  and  with  the  recklessness  of  the  true  aristo- 
crat replies  :  "  You  common  cry  of  curs,  whose  breath 
I  hate  as  reek  o'  the  rotten  fens,  ...  I  banish  you  !  " 
The  idea  of  patriotism  was  exploited  in  the  same  way. 
It  was  only  a  call  to  arms  addressed  to  all  good  Romans 
to  maintain  the  integrity  and  increase  the  greatness  of 
the  Empire,  which  existed  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  ; 
its  expansion  was  no  help  to  the  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water  ;  no  attempt  was  ever  made  or  could 
be  made  in  such  a  civilisation  to  elevate  the  mind  and 
soul  of  the  common  people.  The  state  was  concerned 
only  with  present-day  material  interests,  and  possessed 
of  no  desire  to  benefit  society  as  a  whole  or  the  genera- 
tions to  come  ;  the  future  was  no  concern  of  theirs,  a.s 


130        The  Lesson  of  History 

it  is  in  all  governments  to-day  in  the  van  of  progress 
in  our  Western  civilisation. 

We  think  it  will  be  acknowledged  that  thus  far  we  are 
dealing  with  historical  fact.  Benjamin  Kidd  has  dealt 
with  these  points  in  such  a  fascinating  way  that,  after 
a  study  of  his  book,  one  feels  impelled  to  advise  every 
one  desiring  further  and  detailed  evidence  to  read  and 
absorb  the  facts  and  ideas  contained  in  "  Social 
Evolution."  It  is  he  who  has  discovered  and  revealed 
the  true  lesson  of  history,  and  without  his  teachings  on 
this  subject  the  study  of  the  past  and  the  present  would 
have  been  impossible  from  the  scientific  standpoint  ; 
it  is  therefore  necessary  to  borrow  from  this  most  in- 
teresting and  suggestive  volume,  if  the  teaching  of  the 
lesson  of  the  events  and  epochs  of  past  ages  is  to  be 
satisfactorily  expounded.  He  shows  how  the  creation 
of  this  caste  of  slaves,  who  were  utilised  to  the  utmost 
limit  without  consideration  of  any  kind,  and  being  born 
into  this  lot  remained  there  without  hope  and  without 
freedom  as  long  as  life  lasted,  resulted  ultimately  and 
of  necessity  in  the  disintegration  of  the  state.  This 
caste  of  slavery  was  considered  a  vital  element  of  the 
continuance  of  power  and  empire,  but  eventually  like  a 
canker  it  sapped  the  vigour  of  the  body  politic  ;  it  was 
like  "  a  goodly  apple,  rotten  at  the  core,"  and  ere  long 
passed  away  as  a  thing  of  naught. 

In  our  Western  civilisation  as  it  exists  to-day  it  is 
evident  that  a  different  conception  of  the  state — of  the 
body  politic — pervades  men's  minds.  Slavery  as  such 
has  been  abolished  in  all  countries  which  can  be 
described  as  leaders  in  the  van  of  civilisation,  acknow- 
ledging the  sway  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  enlight- 
ened by  the  great  liberating  movement  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. And  it  will  be  observed  that  it  has  been  abolished 
only  as  part  of,  and  in  consonance  with,  the  progressive 
social  amelioration  of  all  classes  of  the  community,  and 


The  Lesson  of  History         131 

herein  lies  the  force  which  has  secured  permanence, 
and  we  are  entitled  to  believe  will  continue  in  our 
Western  civilisation.  And  why  ?  Because  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  ages  we  are  approaching  to  a 
form  of  government  which  "  maketh  for  righteousness." 
Governors  and  statesmen  are  endeavouring  to  rule  the 
people  after  the  pattern  of  the  conception  of  the 
"  Eternal,"  which  has  been  evolved  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  Eternal  was  the  "  not  ourselves  who  maketh 
for  righteousness  "  ;  conjoined  with  this  great  idea  of 
the  Supreme  Power,  under  whose  control  and  guidance 
they  lived  and  moved,  we  have  the  altruism  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  teachings  of  Jesus,  inculcating  the  sup- 
pression of  the  purely  selfish  element  in  human  nature 
and  the  idealisation  of  love  towards  all  men,  regardless 
of  class  or  power  or  wealth,  has  so  permeated  the  minds 
of  men  that  all  governments  have  been  compelled, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  to  yield  to  this  new 
influence.  This  has  resulted  in  the  admission  of  the 
masses  of  the  people  to  the  electorate  which  selects  the 
government  and  moulds  the  laws  of  the  nation,  and  has 
brought  within  near  distance  the  consummation  of  the 
idea  of  "  equality  of  opportunity  "  for  all.  The  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  the  extended  franchise,  the  gradual 
concession  of  the  rights  of  man  as  man  have  been 
granted  by  rulers  possessed  of  power  and  every  means 
of  maintaining  their  autocracy  ;  the  "  haves,"  from 
time  to  time,  have  resigned  their  rights  and  privileges 
to  the  "  have-nots,"  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there 
was  no  compelling  force  urging  them  so  to  act ;  they 
could  quite  well  have  refused,  and  used  the  means  at 
their  disposal  in  order  to  retain  their  wealth  and  power. 
The  instinct  of  self-preservation  would  have  led  them 
to  act  solely  in  their  own  material  interest,  but  they 
have  been  led  to  disregard  it,  and  to  act  in  a  manner 
unknown  hitherto  in  the  world's  history ;  a  new  in- 


132         The  Lesson  of  History 

fluence  has  arisen,  and  the  motive  is  not  now  self- 
aggrandisement,  but  the  betterment  of  the  condition  of 
those  of  our  fellow-men  who  are  in  need  of  food,  of 
clothing,  and  better  conditions  generally.  And  thus  it 
is  that  within  recent  times  we  have  witnessed  great 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  people  ;  we  have  only  to 
think  of  the  factory  laws,  those  regulating  employment 
in  mines — entailing  shorter  hours  and  better  conditions 
—controlling  the  employment  of  women  and  children, 
enforcement  of  sanitation,  better  housing,  garden 
cities,  small  holdings,  fever  hospitals,  state  insurance, 
the  minimum  wage,  and  the  prevention  of  disease,  and 
now  we  are  contemplating  an  adult  franchise,  conceding 
even  greater  power  to  the  toiling  millions.  No  such 
measures  were  ever  dreamt  of  in  the  civilisations 
previous  to  the  dawn  of  Christianity  ;  then  there  was 
only  one  thought  on  the  part  of  the  "  haves,"  and  that 
was  the  maintenance  of  the  institution  of  slavery  ;  now 
the  "  haves  "  have  abolished  this  mark  of  degradation 
in  all  countries  under  the  sway  of  the  nations  to  which 
they  belong,  and  their  chief  idea  is  the  betterment  of 
the  "  have-nots."  In  our  Parliaments  the  opposing 
parties  vie  with  one  another  in  making  further  and 
further  concessions  to  the  workers  whom  they  govern. 
Our  Western  civilisation  has  been  in  existence  now  for 
about  a  thousand  years,  and  its  main  feature  has  been 
the  gradual  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  mankind  ;  at 
first  the  efforts  in  this  direction  were  feeble  and  slow  of 
accomplishment ;  they  were  mostly  concerned  with 
certain  rights  of  man  as  man,  and  the  assertion  by  slow 
stages  of  the  principle  of  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  It 
is  only  in  more  recent  times,  with  the  rapid  progress  of 
our  civilisation,  that  reforms  in  the  direction  of  im- 
proving the  lot  of  humanity  have  progressed  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  We  must  now  endeavour  to  give  some 
explanation  of  this  new  development  in  Western  civili- 


The  Lesson  of  History         133 

sation  in  contrast  to  those  of  ancient  times.  We  survey 
the  face  of  history  and  can  discover  no  reason  why  the 
aspect  of  things  should  have  changed,  and  why  our 
civilisation  should  not  have  fallen  into  decay  like  all 
those  which  have  preceded  it,  excepting  the  increased 
respect  paid  to  the  liberty  of  the  subject  and  the  gradual 
improvement  of  the  lot  of  the  people  as  a  whole.  It 
would  appear  that  a  new  era  has  dawned,  characterised 
by  humanitarianism,  and  accompanying  this  the  desire 
to  lift  the  burden  from  and  increase  the  happiness  of 
our  neighbour.  We  are  now  driven  to  an  investigation 
of  the  cause  of  this  marvellous  change  in  the  history 
of  mankind,  and  it  is  not  long  before  we  discover  that 
coincidently  we  have  the  rise  of  the  Christian  religion. 
It  is  now  nearly  two  thousand  years  since  the  dawn  of 
Christianity,  and  even  now  it  is  not  yet  shining  with 
its  full  effulgence,  but  it  is  nearing  the  meridian,  and  it 
will  not  be  long  ere  its  light-giving  and  fertilising  power 
regenerates  the  whole  earth.  The  altruism  of  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  is  the  very  essence  of  Christian 
ethics,  and  has  appealed  directly  to  the  heart  of  man, 
and  so  permeated  his  mind  that  quite  unconsciously  in 
the  early  stages  it  affected  his  conduct  towards  his 
fellow-men  and  compelled  him  to  adopt  measures  to 
ease  their  burdens  and  improve  their  lot ;  and  thus  it  is 
that  the  amelioration  of  society  became  the  outstanding 
mark  of  all  countries  where  Christian  ethics  prevailed. 
The  social  betterment  which  has  arisen  has  enabled  all 
the  individuals  of  the  body  politic  to  act  in  concert,  and 
has  brought  nearer  to  every  one  the  accumulated 
culture  of  the  ages,  and  hence  the  enormous  strides  in 
modern  times  in  the  region  of  mechanical  science  and 
discovery.  This  rapid  advance  is  often  explained  as 
being  due  to  increased  intellectual  vigour  and  power ; 
no  doubt  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  average  man 
has  been  raised  to  a  higher  level,  and  will  be  extended 


134        The  Lesson  of  History 

until  that  of  all  men  shall  be  elevated  to  a  higher  plane  ; 
but  it  must  be  insisted  on  once  again  that  the  human 
intellect  per  se  can  never  evolve  to  greater  heights  than 
it  has  done  in  the  past  history  of  humanity.  We  have 
only  to  consider  how  far  behind  we  are  even  now  to  the 
great  Greek  period  and  the  Elizabethan  Age.  The 
great  point  is  that  the  average  culture  is  improving  and 
is  having  its  effect  in  stimulating,  in  a  manner  hitherto 
unknown,  mechanical  invention  and  discovery,  and  it 
becomes  evident  more  and  more  as  we  study  scientifi- 
cally the  trend  of  human  affairs  that  this  is  the  direct 
result  of  the  social  amelioration  which  exists  to-day, 
and  has  its  origin  in  the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics, 
inculcating  as  they  do  the  suppression  of  the  purely 
selfish  element  in  human  nature  and  the  idealisation 
of  the  duty  of  love  towards  all  men,  regardless  of  rank 
or  wealth  or  power. 

As  the  workers  are  in  the  majority  in  all  great 
societies  or  states,  it  follows  now  that  it  has  been 
recognised  that  every  normal,  every  sane  man  has  an 
equal  right  with  every  other  in  the  election  of  the 
rulers,  and,  in  framing  the  laws,  that  they  as  a  class  are 
the  dominant  factor  in  the  state.  The  most  recent 
catch-word  of  politics — that  "  Labour  is  realising  its 
power  " — shows  the  trend  of  things.  Many  hear  thiswith 
alarm  and  fear,  and  no  doubt  it  does  mean  eventually 
a  more  even  distribution  of  wealth  and  better  con- 
ditions generally,  but  it  is  a  grievous  mistake  to  suppose 
that  "  labour  "  means  to  bring  pain  or  misery  to  any 
other  class.  From  what  we  know  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Labour  party  we  are  entitled  to  believe  that  their 
demands  will  be  in  accordance  with  the  Will  of  the 
Eternal,  "who  maketh  for  righteousness,"  and  especi- 
ally as  shown  forth  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  who  pro- 
claimed the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood 
of  man — the  gospel  of  sweet  reasonableness. 


The  Lesson  of  History         135 

It  may  be  asked  how,  if  this  is  so,  the  Church,  which 
was  the  means  whereby  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
religion  was  perpetuated  and  handed  down  from  one 
generation  to  another,  did  not  inculcate  laws  on  such 
lines  as  those  which  are  now  devised  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  lot  of  humanity  ?  The  answer  is  that  the 
Church  considered  its  duty  was  to  inculcate  attention 
to  its  rites  and  sacraments  in  order  to  secure  for  the 
individual  the  reward  of  material  present-day  interests. 
It  never  seemed  to  occur  to  it  that  it  might  exert  its 
great  power  and  influence  to  improve  the  general  con- 
ditions of  life  and  make  the  lot  of  humanity  better. 
Notwithstanding  this  attitude  of  the  Church  itself,  in 
the  course  of  the  ages  the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics 
pervaded  the  minds  of  ordinary  men  and  distilled 
its  sweet  influence  there,  ultimately  inaugurating  a 
movement  which  has  resulted  in  new  methods  of  rule 
unknown  hitherto  in  the  history  of  human  affairs. 
Gradually  under  this  influence  men  by  slow  degrees 
have  come  to  feel  that  each  has  a  duty  towards  his 
fellow-man — that  he  is  in  truth  "  his  brother's  keeper." 
Some  great  souls  have  felt  it  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be 
able  to  overcome  even  the  primeval  instinct  of  self- 
preservation,  and  actually  give  their  own  lives  to  save 
others,  or  in  order  that  their  fellow-men  might  realise 
the  secret  of  the  revelation  of  the  life  of  the  Saviour  of 
mankind,  who  gave  His  life  in  order  that  all  men 
through  His  death  might  realise  the  necessity  for  a  life 
of  righteousness,  of  reverence  for  the  Eternal,  and  love 
of  one's  neighbour,  whatever  his  race,  caste,  colour, 
belief,  or  civilisation.  The  Church  deserves  credit  for 
keeping  the  lamp  of  Christian  truth  burning,  but  the 
permanence  of  this  faith  can  only  be  ascribed  to  its  own 
inherent  merit  and  the  responsiveness  of  the  minds  of 
men  to  the  teachings  of  love  and  self-sacrifice.  This 
would  tend  to  show  that  there  is  implanted  in  man  an 


136        The  Lesson  of  History 

ideal  which  may  be  said  to  be  more  of  the  heart  than 
the  head,  and  was  only  awaiting  an  appeal  such  as 
Christian  ethics  supply  to  arouse  it  to  life  and  action. 
There  is  no  doubt  this  ideal  is  gaining  strength  day  by 
day,  and  is  the  chief  agent  in  the  making  of  history 
at  the  present  time,  and  must  enter  more  and  more 
into  every  measure  affecting  the  welfare  of  men  and 
their  relation  to  one  another. 

In  regard  to  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject  of  the 
attitude  of  the  Church,  it  is  not  uninteresting  to  find 
the  view  upheld  by  Lord  Hugh  Cecil,  one  of  the  most 
intellectual  members  of  that  party  in  the  state  which 
has  endeavoured  to  run  counter  to  the  new  order  of 
things :  that  the  Church  and  religion  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  welfare  of  mankind  as  a  whole  ;  they  have 
only  to  do  with  the  personal  salvation  of  the  human  soul. 
It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  this  attitude  can  be 
maintained  when  we  consider  that  the  Author  of  our 
religion  inculcated  the  lightening  of  the  burden  of  the 
poor,  the  sad,  and  the  afflicted.  His  gospel,  if  it  meant 
anything,  urged  the  salvation  of  humanity  by  means 
of  all  measures  which  could  be  devised  to  remove  the 
load  of  misery,  emphasising  this  as  the  Will  of  the 
Eternal — "  your  Father,  which  is  in  heaven,"  to  quote 
the  words  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  His  thought, 
much  as  it  was  of  the  poor,  was  not  confined  to  this 
class ;  His  love  extended  to  all  men.  To  the  young 
man  "  of  many  possessions  "  He  says :  "  Go  and  sell  all 
that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  ye  shall  find 
treasure  in  heaven."  It  is  clear  He  did  not  consider 
His  gospel  to  mean  only  an  individual  life  of  righteous- 
ness which  pointed  the  pathway  to  eternal  bliss.  No ; 
He  meant  it  to  include  every  possible  effort  which  could 
be  made  to  ease  the  burdens  of  a  sad  and  downtrodden 
humanity.  And  hence  the  all-pervading  influence  of 
the  altruism  of  His  teaching  in  every  social  ameliora- 


The  Lesson  of  History         137 

ing  development  of  our  time.  And  therefore  it  is  that 
the  Church  has  failed  to  keep  the  hold  which,  as  the 
depository  of  the  faith  and  dogma  of  the  Christian 
religion,  it  ought  to  have  maintained  upon  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  men.  Fortunately  the  heart  and  mind  of 
the  Master  was  one  of  such  charm  and  attraction  that 
His  teachings  remain  the  greatest  "  power  unto  salva- 
tion "  among  men,  notwithstanding  the  failure  of  the 
Church  to  apprehend  the  magnitude  of  its  mission. 
But  at  last  it  is  awakening,  and  fortunately  the  youth 
of  the  Established  Church  of  England  at  any  rate  has 
been  aroused,  and  with  all  the  energy  of  "  eager  hearts 
and  strong,"  by  means  of  Students'  Conferences  on  all 
the  needs  of  the  times,  are  doing  their  utmost  to 
arouse  the  Church1  to  a  full  sense  of  its  duties  and 
responsibilities. 

Lord  Hugh  Cecil,  in  a  volume  entitled  "  Conser- 
vatism," adheres  to  the  view  that  Christianity  has  to 
do  with  the  individual  soul,  and  that  states  and  govern- 
ments are  outside  its  jurisdiction.  Their  business  is 
doing  justice,  respecting  the  rights  of  property,  without 
investigating  the  methods  of  their  acquisition.  He 
wants  the  individual  rich  man  to  respect  the  Gospel 
injunction  as  regards  his  wealth,  but  the  state  has  no 
right  in  its  own  capacity  to  apply  the  Christian 
standard  or  require  sacrifices  of  the  rich  man  which  can 
be  said  to  penalise.  A  critic  of  this  volume  in  the 
"  Westminster  Gazette  "  gets  to  the  root  of  the  matter. 
He  says  :  "  No  state  has  adopted  or  ever  can  adopt 
the  non-ethical  idea  of  property.  So  far  as  religion 
enters  into  a  community,  it  will  enter  into  its  state 
policy.  In  some  form  or  other  the  idea  that  the  state  in 
the  last  resort  has  the  right  of  controlling  the  property 

1  By  "  the  Church,"  I  mean  the  Church  as  by  law  established — 
the  Anglican  Church  in  England,  the  Roman  Catholic  in  Austria, 
the  Greek  Church  in  Russia,  and  so  on.  Nonconformity  has  always 
been  much  more  alive  to  the  needs  and  sufferings  of  the  poor. 


138        The  Lesson  of  History 

of  its  members  for  the  public  well-being  must  enter  into 
public  policy,  whether  it  is  a  policy  of  a  conservative 
party  or  a  liberal  party ;  but  the  idea  of  a  non-ethical 
state  becomes  the  more  difficult  when  advocated  by 
a  writer  who  is  a  strong  upholder  of  the  state  estab- 
lishment and  endowment  of  religion.  What  is  his 
ground  ?  Not  that  the  Church  established  is  necessarily 
the  one  depository  of  religious  truth,  for  two  different 
churches  are  established,  in  England  and  in  Scotland ; 
nor  that  it  represents  the  religion  of  the  majority,  for 
the  Irish  establishment  clearly  did  not  do  that.  What 
remains  ?  Simply  that  the  establishment  of  a  Church 
is  the  recognition  of  religion  by  the  state — the  national 
affirmation  of  the  existence  of  God  and  the  moral 
responsibility  to  His  judgment,  which  attaches  to  men 
in  their  national  no  less  than  in  their  individual  acts. 
We  may  ask  of  what  essential  value  is  this  formal  and 
public  affirmation  by  the  state  if  it  is  to  be  attached  to 
a  doctrine  that  ethical  considerations  are  irrelevant  to 
the  greater  part  of  the  operations  in  which  the  state  is 
engaged  ?  The  argument  which  pins  the  state  to  the 
individualistic,  competitive,  non-ethical  view  of  its 
functions  can  be  defended  on  many  good  logical 
grounds,  but  it  does  not  go  well  with  a  passionate 
defence  of  establishments  as  the  recognition  of  a 
principle  which  is  ex  hypothcsi  excluded."  This  is  the 
philosophy  of  the  old  style  of  Conservatism,  but  it  is 
already  a  thing  of  the  past.  And  it  is  perhaps  the  most 
striking  evidence  of  the  influence  of  altruistic  Chris- 
tianity that,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  the  Conservative 
party  is  already  committed,  whenever  it  has  oppor- 
tunity, to  a  programme  of  social,  housing,  and  poor  law 
reform  on  the  lines  of  the  "  Minority  Report."  The  fact 
is  that  the  church  or  the  state  in  a  Christian  country 
which  does  not  mould  its  practice  on  the  lines  of  the 
social  improvement  of  the  community,  showing  forth 


The  Lesson  of  History        139 

thereby  the  compelling  force  of  the  altruism  of  its 
gospel,  is  doomed,  and  this  will  become  more  and  more 
evident  as  time  goes  on. 

The  author  of  this  volume  makes  another  astounding 
statement  worthy  of  attention  :  "  The  championship 
of  religion  is  the  keystone  of  the  arch  upon  which  the 
whole  fabric  of  Conservatism  rests."  If  he  had  said 
"  the  championship  of  the  Church,"  he  would  have 
stated  the  case  as  it  exists  to-day.  Unfortunately  the 
Church  only  champions  a  creed  inculcated  by  authority ; 
the  true  religion  is  in  the  hearts  of  men,  quite  apart 
from  the  Church.  The  world  is  being  saved  by  the 
practical  results  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  which  both 
the  Church  and  Conservatism  have  done  and  are  doing 
their  best  to  oppose.  The  practical  results  of  these 
teachings  are  all  measures  devised  to  ameliorate  the  lot 
of  the  toilers  below  the  poverty  line,  and  these  have 
been  consistently  opposed  by  Lord  Hugh  Cecil  and 
Conservatism  and  the  Church. 

Lord  Hugh's  dissertation  is  only  "  window-dressing," 
which  cannot  bear  investigation,  and  that  is  why 
Conservatism  per  se,  as  a  potent  force  in  the  community, 
is  as  dead  as  Queen  Anne.  The  main  object  of  Con- 
servatism is  to  "  dish  the  Whigs  "  by  the  presenta- 
tion of  Acts  of  Parliament  previously  suggested  and 
elaborated  by  the  liberal  party,  and  some  of  their 
measures  are  actually  drawn  on  exactly  similar  lines 
to  those  which  have  been  thrown  out  by  the  Second 
Chamber  while  their  opponents  were  in  office.  His  cry 
that  Old  Age  Pensions  and  State  Insurance  should  be 
secured  to  all,  rich  and  poor  alike,  to  those  earning  over 
one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  a  year  as  well  as  those 
below,  is  absurd  at  the  present  time,  as  it  would  only 
throw  fresh  burdens  on  the  community.  To  argue  that 
those  who  by  greed,  stealth,  or  unscrupulous  disregard 
of  their  fellow-men,  or  who,  apart  from  such  methods, 


140        The  Lesson  of  History 

find  themselves  endowed  with  great  possessions,  are  to 
receive  monetary  benefits  from  the  state,  such  as  are 
required  as  necessities  of  ordinary  existence  by  the 
poor,  is  to  show  a  total  incapacity  for  comprehending 
the  present-day  condition  of  affairs,  or  the  bearing  of 
true  religion  upon  the  social  amelioration  of  the  people. 
Lord  Hugh  Cecil  will  do  well  to  look  into  this  matter 
from  the  historical  standpoint,  and  throw  off  the  mantle 
of  the  old  Conservatism,  which,  after  all,  is  concerned 
only  in  the  maintenance  of  present-day  conditions. 
No  party  can  hope  to  endure  which  does  not  mould 
its  policy  on  the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics.  Its  main 
thought  must  always  be  the  betterment  of  the  general 
body  of  the  people  and  of  the  future  of  the  race ; 
otherwise  it  is  sure  to  be  left  out  of  account,  stranded 
on  the  bank  and  shoal  of  time. 

It  has  been  argued  that  there  are  countries  in  Europe, 
in  which  the  Christian  religion  has  been  established  for 
centuries, which,  like  the  ancient  civilisations, have  risen 
to  greatness,  and  just  as  surely,  as  did  Rome,  having 
reached  the  zenith,  sunk  again  into  eclipse.  Portugal 
and  Spain  are  both  striking  examples.  What  is  the 
explanation  ?  It  is  simply  that  the  Church  in  these 
countries  chose  to  keep  the  people  in  ignorance,  and, 
dominating  the  state  for  its  own  advantage,  prevented 
that  social  amelioration  of  the  masses  which  is  a  neces- 
sity of  all  progress  in  art  and  science,  and  of  that 
prosperity  upon  which  all  advancing  civilisation  must 
be  founded.  The  Church  maintained  the  personal  view 
of  religion,  dominating  the  individual,  who  was  made 
to  find  his  present-day  material  interests  by  the  ob- 
servance of  its  rites  and  sacraments  :  it  prevented 
anything  like  the  enlightenment  of  the  masses,  and 
succeeded  by  these  means  in  maintaining  its  ascendancy 
in  the  state.  Instead  of  helping  the  people  to  lighten 
their  burdens  and  attain  by  degrees  to  a  life  of  comfort 


The  Lesson  of  History         141 

and  culture,  it  held  them  down,  and  in  this  manner  kept 
its  control  of  their  entire  existence  and  of  the  policy  of 
the  government  as  well.  The  social  condition  of  the 
people,  like  slavery  in  ancient  Rome,  remained  a  canker 
in  the  body  politic,  and  in  both  states  was  the  one 
cause  of  failure  to  retain  their  position  as  world-powers. 
The  Spanish  Main  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  the  glory 
of  Portuguese  colonial  expansion  has  failed  to  preserve 
its  grandeur.  Only  recently  the  Government  of 
Portugal,  which  it  must  be  remembered  was  supported 
by  the  Church,  has  been  overthrown.  And  one  cannot 
forget  that  France  has  disestablished  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  is,  I  believe,  the  only  great  European  power 
which  refuses  to  recognise  state  religion.  The  Church 
has  wrought  its  own  destruction  ;  it  endeavoured  to 
dominate  the  lives  and  thoughts  of  the  most  intel- 
lectual people  in  Europe,  with  the  only  possible  result 
that  in  the  end  it  was  rejected  with  scorn.  It  failed  to 
convey  the  message  which  the  Author  and  the  Finisher 
of  our  faith  came  to  preach — "  Peace  on  earth  and  good 
will  to  men  "  ;  and  the  people,  through  the  force  of  their 
strong  intellectual  faculty,  recognised  this  failure  of 
duty  and  rejected  the  establishment  of  the  Church  as  a 
useless  incubus  on  the  state.  Notwithstanding,  social 
amelioration  has  not  fallen  behind  in  that  country, 
because  the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics  has  permeated 
the  minds  of  the  people.  France  is  an  object-lesson  to 
the  effect  that  the  establishment  of  a  State  Church  is 
not  a  necessity  of  a  great  world  power  either  in  the 
direction  of  its  maintenance  or  the  comfort  and  culture 
of  the  people.  The  real  necessity  is  the  establishment 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Founder  of  our  religion  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  men,  which  brings  about  social 
amenity  and  well-being,  and  thus  gives  the  state  a 
stable  foundation,  securing  permanence,  and  preventing 
decadence. 


142         The  Lesson  of  History 

The  United  States  of  America  is  another  great  power 
which  has  no  Established  Church,  yet  it  advances  by 
leaps  and  bounds,  and  without  fear  we  can  prophesy  its 
continued  prosperity  and  greatness,  because  its  policy 
is  founded  on  the  high  principle  of  Christian  ethics  and 
acts  in  the  interests  of  the  welfare  of  the  body  of  the 
people.  And  this  is  the  secret  of  the  continued  great- 
ness and  power  of  all  those  European  states  who  have 
come  under  the  sway  of  the  great  movement  of  the 
Reformation.  Historically  viewed  and  scientifically 
considered,  the  only  explanation  of  this  movement  was 
the  rebellion  of  the  forcible  intellects  of  these  peoples 
against  the  dominion  of  a  Church  which  had  failed  to 
keep  the  lamp  of  truth — which  lightens  the  darkness  of 
the  world — shining,  to  show  the  way  of  peace  and  happi- 
ness and  further  spiritual  evolution  to  suffering 
humanity.  The  progressive  countries,  the  leaders  in 
the  van  of  civilisation  to-day,  are  those  who  have 
evolved  a  Reformed  Church  truly  interpreting  the 
altruism  of  Jesus,  under  the  watchful  guiding  eye  of  the 
Eternal,  "who  maketh  for  righteousness."  This  is  the 
lesson  of  history.  These  states  must  endure  because, 
through  the  power  of  Christian  ethics,  they  are  "  broad- 
based  upon  the  people's  will,"  and  act  in  a  progressive 
manner  solely  with  the  view  of  improving  the  lot  of 
the  masses  of  mankind  ;  and  that  is  why  we  can  afford 
to  prophesy,  realising  as  we  do,  in  the  light  of  the  past, 
that  Britain  and  the  United  States  will  not  pass  away 
like  the  ancient  empires,  because  they  are  founded  on 
the  impregnable  rock  of  Christian  teaching,  which  in- 
evitably includes  the  social  amelioration  of  the  masses 
of  the  people.  Germany  is  one  of  our  foremost  world- 
powers  to-day,  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Reforma- 
tion upon  the  minds  of  men,  and  consequently  the 
increased  operation  of  the  altruism  of  our  common 
religion.  But  one  cannot  help  regretting  the  dominance 


The  Lesson  of  History         143 

of  militarism  and  the  consequent  retardation  of  social 
betterment  which  exists  at  the  present  time.  Germany 
is  not  broad-based  upon  the  people's  will,  as  is  proved 
by  the  autocratic  power  of  the  Emperor  ;  the  franchise 
is  extensive,  but  it  is  effete  ;  the  socialists  are  admitted 
to  number  about  half  of  the  electorate,  and  yet  they 
do  not  have  one-third  of  the  representation  in  the 
Reichstag.  There  are  two  elements  of  disintegration 
here — militarism  on  the  one  hand  and  the  autocratic 
opposition  of  the  will  of  the  people  on  the  other. 
Fortunately  for  the  continued  existence  of  the  State, 
that  wise,  far-seeing  statesman,  probably  as  great  as 
the  world  has  yet  seen,  Bismarck,  thirty  years  ago 
passed  laws  of  State  Insurance  and  other  measures  for 
the  social  improvement  of  the  masses,  which  are  bearing 
fruit  now,  and  are  doubtless  the  chief  bulwarks  of  the 
Government  against  the  disintegrating  forces  at  present 
at  work.  The  people  are  groaning  under  the  burden  of 
excessive  taxation,  required  to  maintain  the  enormous 
military  organisation  necessary  to  the  greatest  of 
European  powers.  History  tells  that  here  we  have  a 
house  founded  upon  the  sand,  and  doomed  to  inevitable 
disintegration  unless  its  rulers  are  wisely  guided  and 
concede  to  the  masses  of  the  people  "  equality  of  oppor- 
tunity," a  lessening  of  the  burdens  which  bear  upon 
them,  and  a  gradual  betterment  of  their  condition. 
Thus  only  can  the  masses  learn  to  be  proud  of  the 
greatness  of  their  country  as  a  world-power  ;  otherwise 
they  come  to  loathe  the  Government  and  all  its  works, 
and  mutter  "  revolution  "  until  it  becomes  an  accom- 
plished fact.  And  thus  history  repeats  itself.  Let 
Germany  take  warning  in  time. 

The  state  of  things  in  the  "  Fatherland  "  is  discon- 
certing to  her  neighbours  as  well,  for  this  reason,  that 
one  can  never  be  assured  that  the  Government  will  not 
declare  war  on  the  slightest  of  pretexts  in  order  to 


144        The  Lesson  of  History 

endeavour  to  resuscitate  the  patriotism  of  the  masses 
and  direct  their  thoughts  into  other  channels,  and  for 
the  time  being,  at  any  rate,  break  the  strong  socialistic 
wave  which  is  flooding  the  country  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  a  policy 
would  effect  its  purpose  for  a  time,  but  ultimately  it 
would  be  disastrous,  and  recoil  with  ten-fold  force  upon 
its  authors  whenever  the  people  once  again  began  to 
feel  the  still  greater  burdens  of  excessive  taxation  and 
military  exaction.  If  the  Emperor  is  wisely  guided,  he 
will  forthwith  concede  true  representative  govern- 
ment to  the  toiling  millions  over  whom  he  holds  sway ; 
otherwise  the  consequences  must  be  of  a  very  disastrous 
kind. 

One  word  must  be  said  in  regard  to  Mr,  Norman 
Angell's  theory  of  war.  Every  day  he  is  gaining  adherents 
to  the  idea  that  military  conquest  is  a  "  great  illusion." 
In  the  early  phases  of  human  existence  the  supremacy 
of  the  purely  physical  was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  and 
as  men  combined  fortuitously  into  tribes  and  nations 
through  the  accident  of  geographical  conditions  such 
as  mountain  ranges,  wide  rivers,  or  ocean  barriers,  this 
spirit  continued  to  prevail.  The  "  sensus  gregis," 
however,  differed  in  this  way :  that  while  the  peoples 
fought  as  a  whole  against  one  another,  they  were  often 
possessed  of  hatred  and  division  among  themselves, 
and  thus,  as  Mr.  J.  M.  Robertson  shows  in  a  work  of  pro- 
found learning  and  deep  insight,  "  war  is  precisely  the 
blindest,  the  least  rational,  the  least  human  of  all  the 
forms  of  human  conflict."  1  And  he  has  little  difficulty 
in  proving  that  without  fail  it  brings  its  own  Nemesis, 
and  most  assuredly  accomplishes  the  ruin  and  decay 
of  the  state.  The  history  of  every  past  great  civilisa- 
tion shows  it.  In  ancient  and  mediaeval  Rome  we 
have  the  same  result  as  obtains  in  Turkey  to-day  as  a 
»  "  The  Evolution  of  States," 


The  Lesson  of  History         145 

direct  result  of  the  operation  of  continuous  warfare 
upon  the  condition  of  the  people.  It  must  always 
mean  the  frustration  of  democracy.  "  Ethics  must 
needs  worsen  throughout  the  State  when  the  primitive 
instinct  of  strife  developed  into  a  policy  of  plunder  ; 
and  worsened  ethics  means  a  positive  weakening  of  a 
society's  total  strength."1  Similarly  with  the  Greek 
civilisation.  "  Even  the  sinister  virtue  of  uniting  a 
people  within  itself  was  lacking  to  the  perpetual  war- 
fare of  the  Greek ;  the  internal  hatreds  seem  posi- 
tively to  worsen  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  hatreds  of 
the  communities."2  That  Aristotle  had  realised  the 
danger  of  continuous  conflict  he  shows  by  an  apt 
quotation  from  his  "  Politics."  "  As  he  (Aristotle) 
profoundly  observes,  the  training  of  a  people  to  war 
ends  in  their  ruin,  even  when  they  acquire  supremacy, 
because  their  legislators  have  not  taught  them  how  to 
rest."3  In  a  chapter  on  "  Feudal  England,"  Robertson 
asserts  that  "  nothing  can  hinder  that  foreign  wars 
shall  in  the  end  aggrandise  the  upper  as  against  the 
lower  classes,  developing  as  they  do  the  relation  of 
subjection,  and  setting  up  the  spirit  of  force  as  against 
the  spirit  of  law.  .  .  .  No  nation,  from  Rome  to 
Napoleonic  France,  ever  helped  its  own  higher  culture 
by  destroying  other  States."4 

The  case  of  Turkey  lends  ample  confirmation  if  any 
were  needed  to  the  position  taken  up  by  Robertson, 
and  Angell  has  made  striking  use  of  it  in  demonstrating 
the  evils  of  continuous  conflict.  For  four  hundred 
years  it  has  lived  on  this  alone,  extracting  tribute  from 
the  subject  Christian  populations  without  any  pre- 
tence whatever  of  government,  administration,  or  pro- 
tection, while  the  Turkish  people  themselves,  unfit  for 
anything  but  physical  conflict,  degenerated  in  every 

1  Robertson,  "  Evolution  of  States."  *  Ibid. 

3  Ibid.  «  Ibid. 


146         The  Lesson  of  History 

higher  element  of  their  being.  Of  organisation  there 
was  none,  and  social  betterment  was  impossible.  In  fact, 
the  whole  process  has  been  one  of  social  anarchy  and 
confusion,  which  must  inevitably  accompany  tyranny, 
exaction,  and  oppression.  And  to-day  the  Nemesis 
attending  such  processes  is  proved  to  a  demonstration. 
We  rejoice  in  the  present  war,  and  there  is  no  incon- 
sistency in  such  rejoicing,  because  it  is  the  only  means 
by  which  the  reign  of  force  can  be  brought  to  an  end. 
And  we  rejoice  for  the  further  reason,  as  Mr.  Angell  says, 
that  "  if  it  is  good  for  the  Balkan  States  to  abandon 
conflict  as  between  themselves  in  favour  of  co-opera- 
tion against  the  common  enemy,  it  can  only  be  good 
for  other  Christian  nations  to  abandon  such  conflicts 
in  favour  of  co-operation  against  their  common  enemy, 
which  is  wild  nature,  and  human  error,  and  ignorance, 
and  passion."  Dr.  Winslow  Hall  has  given  beautiful 
expression  to  this  idea  in  a  wonderful  poem — "  More 
than  Conquerors  " — from  which  the  following  lines 
are  taken  : 

"  Trust  will  spread,  trust  will  spread, 
If  we  flout  misconceptions  and  dread  ; 
We'll  make  head,  we'll  make  head, 
When  the  love-lighted  lead  the  misled. 

"  Nevermore,  nevermore, 

Shall  the  nations  be  darkened  with  gore  !        • 
We  shall  soar,  we  shall  soar, 
On  the  wings  of  the  wrath  we  forbore." 

As  intelligent  beings,  appreciating  the  phenomena 
of  history,  we  are  bound  to  agree  with  Norman  Angell 
and  J.  M.  Robertson.  It  is  only  those  who  have  an  axe 
to  grind,  or  who  are  prejudiced  by  a  military  environ- 
ment, who  can  defend  warfare,  or  continue  to  recom- 
mend a  policy  of  compulsory  military  training  or  ser- 
vice. Nothing  more  disastrous  to  the  higher  evolution 
of  the  human  race  could  happen  than  that  the  United 


The  Lesson  of  History         147 

Kingdom  should  change  its  policy  in  this  matter.  It 
has  hitherto  shown  the  world  the  way  ;  and  while  in 
this  transitory  period  it  is  necessary  to  be  prepared  to 
defend  itself  against  attack,  it  must  continue  to  main- 
tain its  present  position  of  opposition  to  further 
conquest.  It  must  continue  to  oppose  the  military 
spirit  per  se,  which  is  incompatible  with  social  ameliora- 
tion or  with  the  higher  evolution  of  mankind,  and  is  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  teaching  of  Christian  ethics. 

Mr.  Kidd  always  maintains  that  the  basis  of  action 
and  feeling  under  the  altruism  of  Christianity  is  ultra- 
rational.  He  holds  that  when  a  man  acts  against  his 
own  self-interest  in  order  to  benefit  those  around  him 
who  are  in  need  of  food  and  housing  and  necessary 
comforts,  and  particularly  on  behalf  of  the  generations 
which  are  to  come,  he  is  acting  contrary  to  "  pure 
reason."  Reason  so  interpreted  means  simply  self- 
interest,  but,  as  a  present-day  concept,  has  come  to 
mean  something  entirely  different  ;  pure  reason  ap- 
peals to  the  very  ideal  which  the  Christian  religion 
shows  forth.  Self-abnegation  is  self-realisation  ;  if, 
then,  by  self-denial  the  true  self  is  realised,  reason 
cannot  mean  self-interest ;  it  must  mean  its  direct 
opposite.  As  Lord  Haldane  showed  in  the  Gifford 
lectures  delivered  at  St.  Andrews,  the  "  Pathway  to 
Reality  "  is  by  means  of  a  life  of  self-denial  towards  the 
realisation  of  the  God  in  man — the  immanence  of  the 
Divine.1  And  this  brings  us  to  a  further  stage  in  this 
chain  of  thought.  How  are  we  to  explain  the  gradual 
uplifting  of  the  human  race  ever  since  the  dawn  of 
Christianity,  the  changed  attitude  of  man  to  man,  of 
ruler  to  subject,  of  government  to  people,  of  the  sub- 
mission of  individual  self-interests  to  that  of  the  state, 
or  "  the  unborn  generations  which  are  to  come  after," 

1  "  The  purpose  of  the  religious  man  is  to  die  to  self  in  order  to 
live  in  God." — "  The  Pathway  to  Reality,"  1904. 


148         The  Lesson  of  History 

as  Mr.  Kidd  has  it  ?  The  only  explanation  which  is  at 
the  same  time  logical  and  consistent  with  the  facts  of 
history  is  that  in  all  men  there  is  an  element  to  which 
the  Divine  appeals  ;  that  this  appeal,  although  felt  now 
and  then  dimly,  was  only  realised  in  its  full  intensity 
with  the  advent  of  Christian  altruism,  and  that  now 
this  element  is  gaining  the  ascendancy  in  the  thoughts 
and  actions  of  men,  and  will  ultimately  influence  all 
things  more  and  more  in  accordance  with  the  Will  of 
the  Eternal,  and  moulded  by  the  "  sweet  reasonable- 
ness "  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

Man  has  evolved  by  slow  but  sure  steps  from  a  very 
dim  and  distant  past.  Morrison  has  given  expression 
to  this  idea  in  his  poem  on  "  the  Evolution  of  Man  "  : 

"  With  never  a  spark  in  the  empty  dark 
To  hint  at  a  life  to  come. 

There  came  a  time  in  the  last  of  life 
When  over  the  nursing  sod 
The  shadows  broke,  and  the  soul  awoke 
To  the  strange  sweet  dream  of  God." 

And  Mr.  W.  Herbert  Carruth  gives  us  a  similar  thought : 

"  And  caves  where  the  cave  men  dwell. 
Then  a  sense  of  law  and  beauty 
And  a  face  turned  from  the  clod — 
Some  call  it  evolution, 
And  others  call  it  God. 

"  A  picket  frozen  on  duty, 
A  mother  starved  for  her  brood, 
Socrates  drinking  the  hemlock, 
And  Jesus  on  the  rood  ; 
And  millions  who,  humble  and  nameless, 
The  straight  hard  pathway  trod — 
Some  call  it  consecration, 
And  others  call  it  God." 

We  are  entitled  to  believe  that  physically  and  in- 
tellectually he  has  attained  to  the  acme  of  his  capacity 


The  Lesson  of  History         1 49 

for  evolution,  but  now  that  "  equality  of  opportunity  " 
is  becoming  increasingly  more  and  more  possible  for 
every  member  of  the  state,  we  shall  certainly  have  a 
marked  and  general  rise  in  physique,  intelligence,  and 
culture.  The  point  is  that  we  are  not  at  all  likely  to 
attain  a  higher  physical  or  intellectual  evolution  than 
has  been  possible  to  man  in  the  past,  but  the  remark- 
able fact  is  now  demonstrable  that  man  is  becoming, 
as  Mr.  Kidd  has  proved,  "  more  and  more  religious." 
You  may  take  leave  to  doubt  this  and  assert  that  the 
contrary  is  the  case  ;  that  men  who  formerly  attended 
church  service  with  the  utmost  regularity  have 
ceased  to  do  so,  and  nowadays  play  golf  instead. 
No  doubt  this  has  occurred  in  many  instances. 
But  that  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  what  was 
known  as  pure  materialism  is  dead ;  that  scientific 
men  have  departed  from  what  was  considered  a  purely 
logical  standpoint  and  are  enquiring  into  the  secret  and 
power  of  ethical  and  spiritual  agencies.  Professor 
Urwick,  in  his  book  "  A  Philosophy  of  Social  Progress," 
which  is  a  searching  plea  for  idealism  in  collective 
action,  referring  to  the  mystical  side  of  human  life, 
insists  upon  it  as  a  reality,  which  men  of  science  or 
practical  men  will  ignore  at  their  peril.  Moreover,  the 
general  mass  of  the  people  of  all  classes  act  more  and 
more  from  day  to  day,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
under  religious  influences,  and  every  man  in  his  heart 
of  hearts  knows  that  he  has  a  duty  to  humanity.  It 
ought  again  to  be  acknowledged  that  Mr.  Kidd  has 
been  the  first  to  demonstrate  that  man  is  still  in 
process  of  evolution,  not  in  the  acquisition  of  greater 
physical  or  mental  power,  but  in  the  attainment 
of  a  higher  ethical  or  spiritual  nature.  The  present 
evolution  of  man  is  spiritual,  and  in  this  direction 
only  lies  the  path  of  further  advance  for  the  human 
species. 


150        The  Lesson  of  History 

"  For  I  dipt  into  the  future,  far  as  human  eye  could  see, 
Saw  the  Vision  of  the  world,  and  all  the  wonder  that  would  be ; 

"  Till  the  war-drum  throbb'd  no  longer,  and  the  battle  flags 

were  furl'd 
In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the  world. 

"  There  the  common  sense  of  most  shall  hold  a  fretful  realm 

in  awe, 
And  the  kindly  earth  shall  slumber,  lapt  in  universal  law. 

"  Yet  I  doubt  not  thro'  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widen'd  with  the  process  of 
the  suns."  ("  Locksley  Hall.") 


Chapter  VIII 
The  Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

"  But  heard  are  the  voices,  Here  eyes  do  regard  you 

Heard  are  the  sages,  In  eternity's  stillness  ; 

The  worlds,  and  the  ages  :  Here  is  all  fulness, 

'  Choose  well,  your  choice  is  Ye  brave,  to  reward  you  ; 

Brief  and  yet  endless  :  Work  and  despair  not.'  "  1 

IT  may  be  asked  why  we  have  been  made  to  wade 
through  pages  of  discussion  as  to  the  truth  of 
Darwinism,  Malthusianism,  Natural  Selection,  Heredity 
and  Environment  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  beneficent 
influence  of  Christian  ethics  and  their  practical  appli- 
cation in  the  conduct  of  human  affairs.  These 
subjects  are  no  doubt  interesting  in  themselves,  but 
what  have  they  to  do  with  such  matters  as  spiritual 
evolution  in  the  ideal  state?  It  has  been  demon- 
strated already  that  humanity  has  cried  for  long  to  be 
removed  from  the  "  dead  hand  "  of  heredity  on  account 
of  its  blighting  influence  upon  the  minds  of  men  which 
has  obstructed  any  movement  in  the  direction  of  im- 
proving the  environment.  This  sufficiently  explains 
why  we  discussed  these  subjects :  but  why  Darwinism, 
Malthusianism,  and  Natural  Selection  ?  For  the  reason 
that  if  these  theories  are  true,  it  is  quite  useless  for  man 
to  attempt  to  attain  social  betterment  or  a  higher 
spiritual  evolution.  If  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest  " 
were  the  fundamental  law,  and  "  vice  and  misery  "  the 
only  bulwarks  against  the  extinction  of  the  race,  then, 

1  Carlyle's  translation  of  Goethe's  hymn,  "  Mason's  Lodge." 


152     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

indeed,  the  world  is  a  vain  show,  the  teaching  of  the 
New  Testament  a  sham  and  a  delusion,  and  poor 
humanity  need  only  "  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for 
to-morrow  it  dies."  The  law  of  righteousness  makes 
no  appeal  to  those  doomed  to  die  without  hope,  and 
self-denial  can  have  no  power  among  men  who  only 
survive  by  means  of  a  selfish  struggle,  resulting  in  the 
destruction  of  other  members  of  their  own  species  who 
are  less  well-equipped  for  the  conflict. 

It  must  be  clear  that  we  had  excellent  reasons  for  the 
discussion  of  these  subjects.  The  demonstration  of  the 
falsity  of  these  doctrines  became  a  necessity  if  we  were 
to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  the  continued  progress 
and  betterment  of  mankind,  and  of  the  truth  and 
permanence  of  Christian  ethics,  and  the  gradual  up- 
lifting of  humanity  to  a  higher  spiritual  evolution  and 
a  realisation  of  the  immanence  of  the  Divine  in  all 
peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues. 

Under  the  sway  of  the  Darwinian  hypothesis  all 
educated  men  were  very  easily  induced  to  accept  as  the 
creed  of  science  the  law  upon  which  they  had  moulded 
their  lives :  that  life  was  a  struggle  with  one's  neighbour, 
and  that  in  the  end  the  fittest  must  survive.  This  was 
called  "  Natural  Selection."  Having  been  established 
by  experience  in  the  past  and  found  true  in  the  present 
among  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  animals,  and 
plants,  it  became  an  immutable  law  of  nature,  and  even 
among  the  orthodox  it  acquired  the  authority  of  the 
law  of  God,  by  which  He  regulated  the  conditions  of 
existence  of  all  living  matter.  The  moral  which  man 
drew  was  that  only  he  who  had  the  greater  power  of 
struggle  could  attain  to  the  acquisition  of  the  means  of 
subsistence  and  survive ;  and  with  smug  complacency 
he  proceeded  with  the  approval  of  science  to  acquire  all 
the  wealth  and  property  he  could  lay  his  hands  on. 
The  animals,  we  are  told,  act  in  this  way  ;  we  hear 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     153 

of  nothing  but  "  nature,  red  in  tooth  and  claw,"  as  if 
the  world  were  a  vast  charnel-house.  Doubtless  some 
species  do  prey  more  or  less  on  others,  but  no  further 
than  is  necessary  to  maintain  the  balance  of  nature. 
We  have  proved  that  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest  "  is 
only  a  catchword,  and  that  any  evolution  as  a  result  of 
such  law  has  never  been  demonstrated  and  never  will, 
as  all  species  refuse  to  perpetuate  their  "  sports,"  and 
by  the  removal  of  all  variations  through  the  influence 
of  marriage,  in  a  few  generations  return  to  the 
average. 

Darwin  called  Malthus  to  his  aid  and  accepted  his 
law  of  population  ;  he  believed  with  him  that  only  by 
means  of  war,  pestilence,  famine,  vice,  and  misery  could 
the  human  race  be  kept  within  due  bounds,  that  is, 
within  the  limits  required  by  the  means  of  subsistence. 
It  is  surely  one  of  the  strangest  of  facts  in  regard  to 
the  domination  of  the  human  mind  by  a  hypothesis  of 
this  kind,  that  the  educated  men  of  his  generation 
accepted  all  Darwin's  statements  as  immutably  true  at 
the  very  time  they  were  demonstrating  their  disbelief 
by  acting  in  such  a  way  as  to  prove  their  adherence  to 
the  very  opposite.  They  introduced  measures  into 
Parliament  to  lessen  or  remove  the  miseries  of  men  ; 
they  built  hospitals  and  asylums  to  cure  disease  and 
keep  the  wretched  and  feeble  alive ;  they  prevented 
famine  by  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws  ;  they  regu- 
lated sanitation  and  removed  slums  and  filth  of  all 
kinds ;  they  took  preventive  measures  against  infective 
diseases,  so  that  now  preventive  medicine  is  one  of  the 
most  potent  forces  in  increasing  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind ;  they  have  built  the  Great  Palace  of  Peace  at  the 
Hague,  and  are  pushing  forward  all  means  to  secure 
arbitration  and  prevent  war.  How  long  will  it  be  before 
men  come  to  see  that  in  "  turning  their  swords  into 
ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks," 


154     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

they  are  proving  their  disbelief  in  the  hypothesis  of 
Darwin  and  Malthus,  and  by  their  thoughts  and  actions 
have  declared  their  entire  rejection  of  the  basis  on 
which  these  theories  were  founded  ?  We  do  not  think 
we  have  had  a  better  instance  of  the  limitation  of  the 
human  intellect  than  in  this  particular  history  of  an 
exploded  theory  ;  "  man,  proud  man,"  asserts  from 
generation  to  generation  his  particular  theory  of  the 
working  of  the  Universe,  only  to  find  it  wanting  when 
weighed  in  the  balances.  In  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  all  men  of  scientific  attainment 
were  of  necessity  materialists,  and  woe  betide  the 
reputation  of  any  who  did  not  conform.  To-day,  how 
different !  No  doubt  there  will  be  many  reactions 
towards  it,  but  there  is  every  indication  that  we  are  at 
the  parting  of  the  ways  ;  we  see  ahead  "  the  fair  be- 
ginning of  a  time,"  the  beliefs  and  theories  of  which 
shall  be  founded  on  the  impregnable  rock  of  Truth,  all 
the  more  firm  and  sure  that  man  has  come  to  doubt  the 
absolute  greatness  and  finality  of  his  own  very  im- 
perfect intellect. 

Nietzsche  may  be  said  to  be  the  great  philosophic 
protagonist  of  the  Darwinian  standpoint.  He  regrets 
bitterly  the  changed  condition  of  things — the  world  no 
longer  ruled  by  the  "  Uebermenschen,"  the  supermen, 
who  had  gained  their  ascendancy  by  pure  force  and 
fitness  and  are  fast  losing  their  predominance.  This 
drives  him  to  despair  ;  he  rails  against  the  relinquish- 
ment  of  power  by  the  ruling  caste,  who  have  been 
seduced  by  the  beliefs  and  sentiments  of  our  civilisa- 
tion into  conceding  their  domination  to  a  democracy 
of  whom  they  are  the  natural  superiors.  That  is  to  say, 
he  looks  upon  Christianity  as  the  absolute  negation  of 
natural  law,  and  therefore  the  most  malign  influence 
among  men,  which  can  only  result  in  the  destruction  of 
the  human  race  by  a  process  of  degeneration  which 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     155 

must  progressively  increase.  Benjamin  Kidd,  in  a 
most  illuminating  chapter  in  his  book  "  Western 
Civilisation,"  points  out  that  Nietzsche's  philosophy  is 
founded  entirely  on  what  he  calls  "  the  ascendancy  of 
the  present  in  the  economic  process,"  and  in  this  re- 
spect the  two  phases  of  modern  thought,  represented 
by  Marx  on  the  one  hand  and  Nietzsche  on  the  other, 
appear  as  complementary.  The  principles  of  Marx 
represent,  as  it  were,  only  the  extreme  socialistic  ex- 
pression of  the  views  of  which  Nietzsche  may  be  said  to 
represent  the  extreme  individualistic  interpretation. 
For  in  each  case  the  principle  which  is  held  before  us 
is  the  same,  viz.  the  ascendancy  of  the  present  in  the 
social  process  in  history.  In  modern  Germany  Nietz- 
sche, equally  with  the  Sozial  Demokrat  and  Arsene 
Dumont,  anticipates  the  day  when  "  I'hypothese  Dieu  " 
shall  be  expelled  from  human  affairs.  "  The  great  Euro- 
pean narcotic  of  Christianity  "  is  associated  with  the 
existing  order  of  things.  Only  too  true,  asserts 
Nietzsche  in  effect.  It  has  enabled  the  serf  population 
in  our  midst  to  invent  a  "  slave  "  morality,  to  enlist 
sympathy  to  obtain  votes,  to  slowly  gain  predominance 
over  their  destined  superiors.  What  is  this  ideal  of 
sympathy  and  brotherly  love  ?  Mere  contemptible 
consideration  for  the  inferior ;  mere  lack  of  self-con- 
sideration in  the  natural  superior.  What  is  democ- 
racy ?  A  declining  type  of  the  state  in  which  the 
natural  superior  is  enslaved  with  sympathies  so  that  he 
may  be  kept  out  of  his  own.  "  The  best  things  belong 
to  me  and  mine,  and  if  men  give  us  nothing,  then  we 
take  them — the  best  food,  the  purest  sky,  the  strongest 
-thoughts,  the  fairest  women."  "  A  new  table,  O  my 
brethren,  I  put  before  you :  become  hard." 

All  these  ideas  proceed  from  the  materialistic  con- 
ception of  history — the  ascendancy  of  the  present  in 
the  ruling  process.  Mr.  Kidd's  argument  in  regard  to 


156     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

the  principles  of  Marx  being  merely  the  socialistic 
expression  of  the  same  views  of  which  Nietzsche  repre- 
sents the  extreme  individualistic  interpretation  is  un- 
doubtedly sound.  Both  Marx  and  Nietzsche  founded 
their  philosophy  on  pure  materialism,  which  has  been 
proved  to  be  a  false  concept  and  of  necessity  doomed 
to  destruction,  as  all  such  have  been  in  the  past  history 
of  mankind ;  they  are  both  unaware  of  any  ethical 
evolution  in  the  upward  path  of  man,  and  of  the  need 
of  such  if  there  is  to  be  any  permanence  in  human 
affairs.  In  other  words,  as  long  as  governments,  or 
states,  or  parties  proceed  on  purely  selfish  lines,  they 
become  hopeless  as  permanent  forces  and  must  finally 
disappear.  Militarism,  feudalism,  capitalism  have  all 
suffered  on  this  account,  and  disaster  awaits  the 
socialist  party  if  they  do  not  take  warning  and  see  to 
it  that  in  the  rapid  advance  which  they  are  making  they 
leave  the  path  indicated  by  Marx,  and  think  not  only 
of  the  ascendancy  of  their  own  caste,  but  of  the  perma- 
nent good  of  all  mankind.  To  take  an  instance  :  in 
the  coal  strike  of  1912  there  was  no  thought  given  to 
the  millions  below  the  poverty  line  who  were  forced  to 
suffer  far  more  than  the  miners  themselves — poor 
people  in  sweated  industries,  who  had  no  reserves  and 
no  trade  union  funds  to  fall  back  upon,  were  thrown 
out  of  work,  without  a  penny  to  buy  coal  to  warm  them 
or  food  to  feed  them.  The  strike  was  unjustifiable,  as 
they  could  not  take  action  without  causing  much 
misery,  and  should  have  been  delayed  until  they  made 
provision  for  the  poorer  and  less  able  body  of  workers 
who  were  compelled  to  suffer  so  terribly.  Until  the 
present  methods  are  remedied,  the  strikers  will  never 
receive  the  sympathy  of  the  people  as  a  whole.  And, 
moreover,  the  strike  will  always  collapse  without  the 
attainment  of  all  the  demands  of  the  strikers,  just  as  it 
did  in  this  case.  Their  actions  must  be  as  just  as  are 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     157 

the  demands  they  make  of  their  employers.  We  are  not 
condemning  the  action  of  the  miners  in  demanding  a 
minimum  wage  for  all  workers  in  their  own  trade  ; 
it  was  a  noble  deed  on  the  part  of  many  who  had  to  live 
on  union  funds  and  give  up  good  wages  for  the  time 
being  ;  but  if  they  had  shown  that  all-round  fore- 
thought and  "  sweet  reasonableness  "  in  regard  to  those 
still  lower  among  the  wage-earners  who  were  forced  to 
suffer  in  a  way  none  of  their  own  class  did,  the  moral 
force  of  their  action  would  have  been  augmented  a 
thousandfold.  This  supplies  a  powerful  illustration  of 
the  ethical  influence  which  is  operating  in  society,  and 
it  is  only  when  we  give  it  full  play  and  yield  to  its 
influence  that  we  can  help  to  bring  about  the  better- 
ment and  increase  the  happiness  of  mankind.  As  long 
as  men  are  blinded  by  philosophies  of  the  materialistic 
school,  such  as  Nietzsche,  Marx,  and  Arsene  Dumont, 
or  are  tempted  to  join  in  the  cry  demanding  the  expul- 
sion of  "  I'hypothese  Dieu  "  from  human  affairs,  there 
can  be  no  advance  whatever.  The  phrase  "  the  great 
European  narcotic  of  Christianity  "  is  an  absolutely 
false  cry ;  history  has  proved  that  by  its  influence  alone 
man  has  been  aroused,  trade  and  commerce  stimu- 
lated, the  culture  of  the  ages  brought  within  the  reach 
of  all,  mechanical  invention  advanced  and  encouraged, 
society  generally  ameliorated  and  put  upon  a  perma- 
nent basis,  with  advance  all  along  the  line.  It  has 
brought  about  the  ethical  evolution  which  is  saving 
mankind,  and  will  yet  raise  him  to  heights  and  possi- 
bilities hitherto  undreamt  of.  But  for  its  advent 
civilisation  would  have  followed  civilisation  in  a  dreary 
round,  with  no  advance,  no  hope.  "  La  misere  "  would 
have  been  the  one  certainty,  and  the  only  hope  for 
man  the  "  friendly  comet  "  of  Huxley  to  blast  the 
scheme  of  things  entire  into  nothingness. 

Fortunately  we  can  await  the  future  with  confidence, 


158     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

for  the  reason  that  it  has  been  proved  as  clearly  as  any- 
thing can  be  that  all  things  are  ruled  by  the  Eternal, 
who  maketh  for  righteousness,  and  that  He  has  or- 
dained for  man  not  only  a  physical  and  an  intellectual, 
but  a  spiritual  evolution.  The  latter  has  been  an 
operating  force  since  the  advent  of  Christianity,  which 
has  influenced  men  so  that  history  has  taken  new  shape 
and  departed  from  the  evanescent  military  state  to 
one  founded  on  the  "  sweet  reasonableness  "  of  Jesus, 
establishing  equality  of  opportunity  for  all,  with 
gradually  increasing  social  betterment  and  the  security 
of  permanence. 

One  word  more  must  be  said  in  regard  to  "  Labour." 
The  subject  has  been  treated  in  no  party  spirit.  I 
think  it  may  be  said  without  fear  of  contradiction  that 
every  subject  considered  in  this  volume  has  been  dealt 
with  from  the  strictly  scientific  standpoint,  the  only 
object  sought  after  being  to  ascertain  from  observed 
phenomena  what  is  the  path  which  man  must  follow 
and  to  forecast  as  nearly  as  is  humanly  possible  his  final 
goal.  It  may  be  supposed  that  because  we  observed 
that  the  present  labour  movement  dealt  hardly  with 
those  confined  within  its  own  sphere  who  were  least, 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  that  the  attitude  taken 
up  was  hostile  to  this  new  power.  By  no  means  is  this 
so,  because  no  one  can  or  has  any  right  to  deny  the  vast 
amount  of  good  it  has  accomplished  in  the  past.  At 
present  it  is  undoubtedly  imperfect,  and  that  for  two 
reasons  ;  firstly,  it  is  not  thoroughly  organised  so  as  to 
serve  the  interests  of  all  the  workers  of  all  grades  down 
to  the  victims  of  sweated  industries  ;  secondly,  its 
organisers  have  not  fully  realised  the  fact  of  the 
spiritual  evolution  in  process  in  society  and  the  neces- 
sity in  all  its  methods  of  that  spirit  of  altruism  which 
has  come  to  us  through  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  towards 
all  men,  if  its  power  is  to  progressively  increase  and  be 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     159 

of  permanent  value.  It  seems  as  certain  as  that  to- 
morrow's sun  shall  rise,  that  this  will  be  accomplished, 
and  when  it  does  act  in  harmony  with  the  will  of  the 
Eternal,  its  progress  and  power  of  amelioration  of 
society  will  be  apparent. 

Society  as  a  whole  is  only  now  realising  the  power  of 
"  Labour,"  and  Labour  itself  has  only  now  awakened 
to  its  own  commanding  position.  In  the  present  state 
of  things  it  could  not  be  expected  that  it  would  act  in 
any  other  way  than  it  has  done.  But  the  more  power- 
ful section  in  the  party  must  give  up  the  purely 
materialistic  attitude  and  extend  their  horizon  not  only 
to  every  section  of  the  workers,  but  to  the  interests  of 
the  unborn  generations  which  are  to  follow.  The 
evolutionary  process  is  a  slow  one,  and  the  ethical  part 
of  it  must  of  necessity  be  the  slowrest  of  all  when  we 
consider  that  it  has  opposed  to  it  the  primeval  instinct 
of  self-preservation.  But  what  is  possible  for  the  indi- 
vidual is  possible  for  the  race,  and  as  certainly  as  men 
have  given  up  their  worldly  possessions  for  their  fellows, 
so  surely  will  the  race  as  a  whole  devote  its  thought  and 
energies  to  the  improvement  of  the  lot  of  the  genera- 
tions who  are  to  succeed. 

One  word  more  must  be  said  in  regard  to  Nietzsche's 
philosophy.  It  is  often  argued  that  Nietzsche  is  right, 
and  that  England  is  in  the  process  of  decay  through 
failure  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  "  Uebermen- 
schen,"  of  the  principle  that  might  is  right.  Few  go  so 
far  as  to  appraise  his  negation  of  "  I'hypothese  Dieu," 
or  his  gospel  of  "  Become  hard,"  or  that  logical  outcome 
of  the  Darwinian  principle — "  The  weaker  go  to  the 
wall,  and  we  shall  help  them  to  "  ;  but  we  are  all  con- 
scious that  day  by  day  such  an  attitude  becomes  more 
and  more  of  an  impossibility.  It  is  only  the  cynic, 
whose  God  is  Mammon,  or  the  so-called  scientist,  who, 
forsooth,  refuses  to  recognise  the  mystical  side  of  man's 


160     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

nature,  to  whom  the  ideal  is  a  myth,  and  whose  mind 
remains  unpermeated  by  the  teaching  of  history  in 
regard  to  the  advent  of  a  spiritual  evolution  among 
men,  who  are  still  willing  to  be  fed  on  the  husks  of  such 
dead  philosophies.  Contrast  for  the  moment  this  atti- 
tude with  one  of  the  sayings  of  the  Master  :  "  It  is  not 
the  will  of  your  Father  that  one  of  these  little  ones 
should  perish."  Try  the  effect  of  this  contrast  upon 
men  and  women  brought  up  under  Christian  influences, 
and  mark  !  all,  without  exception,  members  of  the 
strongest  and  most  forward  races  at  the  present  day 
shout  the  Nietzscheian  doctrine — "  the  weaker  go  to 
the  wall,  and  we  shall  help  them  to,"  and  listen  to  the 
howls  of  execration  :  whisper  the  other,  revealing  the 
love  of  the  Father  for  "  these  little  ones,"  and  behold 
the  tears  rise  in  the  heart  and  gather  to  the  eyes  of  the 
fathers  and  mothers  of  the  generation  to  be ;  and  why  ? 
Because  in  their  inner  consciousness  they  realise  in- 
tuitively they  have  listened  to  a  truth  transcendent 
in  its  appeal,  not  only  to  their  paternal  and  maternal 
instincts,  but  full  of  that  love  which  is  a  law  of  the 
Eternal,  and  which  is  moulding  all  the  generations  of 
men  wherever  the  influence  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
has  reached  directly  or  indirectly.  It  is  the  power  and 
universality  of  this  appeal  which  gives  us  proof  of  the 
fact  that  in  man  there  is  the  germ,  awaiting  the 
fertilising  power  of  Christian  altruism  to  awaken  it  to 
full  vital  vigour  and  activity ;  and  demonstrates  to  us 
the  method  designed  by  the  Eternal  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  higher  spiritual  evolution  of  humanity. 
It  is  proof  also  of  the  immanence  of  the  Divine,  re- 
quiring only  "  the  light  which  has  enlightened  the  dark- 
ness of  the  world  "  to  enable  it  to  shine  forth  with  ever- 
increasing  lustre  until  its  radiance  illuminates  all 
within  its  orbit.  It  would  be  well  if  the  mechanistic 
philosophers — those  who  still  remain — would  direct 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     1 6 1 

their  attention  to  this  matter.  They  may  rest  assured 
that  from  the  point  of  view  of  science  it  is  an  absolute 
necessity  they  should  do  so,  otherwise  they  are  open  to 
attack,  in  that  science  to  them  is  not  a  study  of  the 
observed  phenomena  of  all  nature,  but  only  of  that 
limited  field  in  which  are  the  things  they  can  see,  and 
taste,  and  feel,  and  smell.  They  refuse  to  recognise  the 
most  potent  force  in  the  world's  history  in  moulding 
man's  thought  and  accomplishing  his  further  evolution ; 
in  other  words,  we  are  justified  in  believing  them  to  be 
partisans,  a  designation  which  ought  to  be  unknown  in 
the  field  of  science  and  unworthy  of  men  who  profess  to 
be  our  guides  in  regard  to  the  observed  phenomena  of 
nature. 

In  a  criticism  of  the  "  Church  Missionary  Review  " 
(May,  1912)  of  Bishop  D'Arcy's  "  Christian  Ethics  and 
Modern  Thought,"  we  get  some  illuminating  ideas  on 
this  matter.  The  editor  quotes  from  an  article  by 
Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  the  American  man  of  letters, 
communicated  to  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly,"  entitled 
"  Modern  Government  and  Christianity,"  in  which  he 
says  :  "  What  I  claim  is  that  Christianity  is  both  social 
and  individualistic ;  that  it  is  a  sublime  blending  of  two 
anomalistic  and  antagonistic  principles.  What  shall 
Nietzsche's  superman  do  with  his  power  ?  If  he  be 
really  a  superman  he  will  use  it  for  the  benefit  of 
humanity,  because  that  spirit  of  God,  of  Christ  within 
his  soul,  will  prevent  him  using  it  otherwise,  whether 
he  will  or  no."  The  editor  of  the  "  Churchman,"  in 
criticising  this  article,  had  understood  Mr.  Churchill  to 
assert  that  Christianity  is  individualistic  and  not  social. 
Mr.  Churchill  replies  :  "  Christianity  is  individualism, 
yet  individualism  that  freely  enters  into  sacrifices  for 
the  common  good.  Just  as  it  is  the  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity that  the  submission  of  our  wills  to  God  must  be 
a  free  admission  (for  only  thus  paradoxically  do  we 

L 


1 62     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

develop  our  own  strength  of  personality),  so  also  is  it 
the  essence  of  Christianity  that  the  submission  of 
ourselves  to  mankind  must  be  free,  and  not  servile, 
compelled.  Submission  to  the  Will  of  God  is,  in  fact, 
submission  to  the  service  of  man."  This  is  very  able 
writing,  but  with  all  deference  I  submit  that  it  shows 
a  certain  amount  of  confusion  of  thought,  and  the 
reason  is  that  the  writer  is  imbued  with  the  ideas  which 
govern  that  portion  of  society  at  the  present  day  which 
may  be  said  to  have  "  great  possessions  " — the  middle 
and  the  aristocratic  classes.  They  desire  to  see  the 
amelioration  of  the  lower  orders,  but  at  the  same  time 
they  will  not  lose  hold  of  their  property.  They  desire 
to  do  good  to  humanity  as  a  whole,  but  on  the  lines  of 
the  conditions  which  have  hitherto  prevailed  in  the 
past,  which  means  the  ascendancy  of  the  present  in  the 
conduct  of  affairs.  As  long  as  man  retains  his  indi- 
vidualistic strivings  and  acquisition  of  great  possessions 
it  is  quite  impossible  for  him  to  "  submit  himself  to  the 
Will  of  God,  which  means  submission  to  the  service  of 
man."  The  Founder  of  the  Christian  religion  was  able 
to  say  :  "I  have  overcome  the  world."  But  how  was 
this  done  ?  By  absolute  self-sacrifice,  by  the  sub- 
mersion of  His  personal  individualism  in  regard  to 
acquiring  wealth,  property,  or  possessions  of  any  kind, 
and  by  the  greatest  of  all  sacrifices — that  of  His  own 
life — in  order  that  in  far-off  days  the  world  might  come 
to  realise  that  love  of  one's  neighbour  was  the  true 
service  of  God,  was  the  ultimate  goal  of  the  law  of 
righteousness  proceeding  from  the  Eternal.  Mr. 
Churchill's  statement  is  only  one  of  many  transition 
phases  in  the  evolution  which  is  proceeding  towards 
the  "  final  goal,"  and  which  will  only  be  reached  when 
all  men  come  to  view  "  possessions  "  with  the  contempt 
necessary  on  the  part  of  all  who  "  have  overcome  the 
world,"  and  have  realised  the  truth  of  the  words  of  the 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     163 

Master  :    "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ? 

If  it  were  not  for  the  traditions  and  influences  of  the 
past  we  would  soon  realise  the  truth  of  this.  We  all 
know  it  to  be  true,  but  we  cannot  act  upon  it.  The 
animal  within  us,  the  "  original  sin  "  of  the  theologians, 
chains  us  to  earthly  things.  How  difficult  it  seems  for 
mankind  to  understand  the  truth  of  the  most  profound 
of  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament :  "The things 
which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are 
unseen  are  eternal."  The  master  poet  of  all  time  had 
an  inkling  of  this  great  conception  ;  at  least  he  realised 
the  futility  of  all  earthly  things  when  he  wrote  : 

"  The  cloud-capped  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve, 
And  like  this  unsubstantial  pageant  faded, 
Leave  not  a  wrack  behind." 

One  other  passage  proves  his  knowledge  of  the  thought 
that  the  things  which  are  unseen  are  eternal : 

"  There's  not  a  single  orb  which  thou  beholdest 
But,  in  his  motion,  like  an  angel  sings, 
Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubim. 
Such  music  is  in  immortal  souls, 
But  that  the  muddy  vesture  of  decay 
Doth  rudely  close  it  in  we  may  not  hear  it." 

Does  not  this  convey  to  us  that  the  greatest  intellect 
of  this  world  recognised  the  God  in  man — the  im- 
manence of  the  Divine — that  eternal  element  which  is 
unseen,  too  much  concealed  hitherto  by  the  covering 
of  the  flesh,  the  "  carnal  mesh  "  of  Browning,  "  the 
muddy  vesture  of  decay,"  and  which  only  awaits  the 
discarding  of  the  "  cloak  of  self  "  to  manifest  itself 
and,  in  the  beautiful  words  of  Scripture,  allow  "  the 
spirit  to  return  unto  God  who  gave  it,"  when  it  becomes 
capable  of  enjoying  the  music  of  immortal  souls? 


1 64     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

"  Man,  proud  man,"  acquires  great  possessions : 
they  become  his  idol ;  he  lives  for  them  ;  his  only 
satisfaction  is  in  acquiring  more  and  more,  yet  he 
knows  full  well  in  a  few  short  years  he  must  leave  them 
all  behind. 

"  Earth  goeth  upon  earth  glistening  like  gold  ; 
Earth  goeth  unto  earth  sooner  than  it  wold  ; 
Earth  buildeth  upon  earth  castles  and  towers  ; 
Earth  sayeth  unto  earth,  '  All  shall  be  ours.'  "* 

He  does  not  even  know  if  those  who  succeed  shall  use 
them  wisely  or  benefit  by  them  ;  he  is  often  haunted  by 
a  fear  that  the  inheritance  may  prove  their  destruction. 
How  often  do  the  sons  of  rich  men  show  an  utter  in- 
capacity to  use  these  possessions  even  for  their  own 
benefit  or  comfort.  As  Scripture  bluntly  puts  it,  they 
are  "  sweet  in  the  mouth,  but  bitter  in  the  belly  "  ; 
they  are  left  as  a  blessing,  but  prove  a  curse.  It  is  no 
rare  thing  to  see  a  family  of  young  men  end  in  disaster 
in  their  youthful  prime  for  the  reason  that  an  in- 
dustrious and  loving  parent  had  left  behind  posses- 
sions to  which  the  sons  had  a  thousand  times  better 
never  have  succeeded.  These  young  men  might  have 
seen  a  green  and  happy  old  age  if  only  they  had  been 
compelled  to  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their 
brow.  How  long  will  it  be  ere  men  come  to  see  the 
truth,  and  learn  that  in  mere  wealth  and  aggrandise- 
ment is  no  satisfaction,  that  very  often  it  proves  but 
bitter  fruit,  leading  to  ill-health,  the  unquiet  mind,  and 
premature  death  ?  And  yet,  whenever  measures  are 
devised  which  tax  the  riches  of  the  "  haves  "  in  order 
to  lighten  the  burden  of  the  "  have-nots  "  and  increase 
the  happiness  of  their  hard  lot,  the  cry  is  ever — "  Con- 
fiscation !  "  But  does  this  confiscation  not,  like  mercy, 
bless  both  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes  ?  Are  we 

1  Inscription  on  an  old  tombstone  in  the  churchyard  of  Melrose 
Abbey. 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     165 

not  coming  to  see  that  men  will  only  be  happy  when 
they  all  can  have  the  necessaries  of  life  without  excess 
of  labour,  but  only  as  the  reward  of  some  labour  ex- 
pended in  the  service  of  society,  with  sufficient  leisure 
to  be  devoted  to  the  highest  physical,  intellectual,  and 
spiritual  development  of  each  unit  therein.  The  cry  is 
always  that  individualism  cannot  be  suppressed,  that 
man  must  have  a  motive  for  exertion,  and  that  his  only 
motive  is  gain.  No  doubt  that  has  been  the  rule 
hitherto  on  the  average,  but  there  have  been  many 
instances  fortunately  in  which  "  the  only  way  "  has 
been  the  "  path  of  honour  "  and  has  proved  the  "  path 
of  glory,"  and  has  involved  the  renunciation  of  all  that 
the  world  holds  dear — wealth,  possession,  and  even  life 
itself.  The  only  way  for  heroes  like  W.  T.  Stead, 
Colonel  Astor,  Isidore  Straus  and  his  wife,  Captain 
Smith,  and  many  others  who,  "  humble  and  nameless, 
the  straight  hard  pathway  trod,"  in  the  recent  terrible 
disaster,  was  to  help  the  helpless,  and,  when  no  more 
could  be  done,  give  up  their  lives  that  others  might  live. 
Their  worldly  possessions  have  gone  to  others  ;  they 
have  parted  with  the  seen  and  temporal,  but  theirs  is 
deathless  fame  and  everlasting  glory ;  theirs  is  the 
unseen  and  the  eternal. 

Canon  Horsley,  writing  lately  about  the  "  Factors  of 
Happiness,"  gives  the  result  of  his  experience  in  regard 
to  the  acquisition  of  wealth  :  "I  have  known  people 
in  all  ranks  of  society  come  into  money  by  legacies  and 
cannot  recall  an  instance  of  their  being  morally  or 
spiritually  improved — usually  the  contrary."  This  is 
valuable  evidence,  and  accords  with  the  experience  of 
all  accurate  and  unprejudiced  observers.  Mr.  Arthur 
Machen  also  has  written  recently  a  series  of  articles  on 
the  "  Secret  of  Happiness,"  and  in  the  first  of  these  the 
following  sentence  occurs  :  "  Men  can  only  be  happy 
and  enjoy  a  state  of  well-being  through  the  exercise 


1 66     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

of  that  faculty  which  is  peculiar  to  man  ;  that  is,  the 
faculty  of  imagination."  There  is  no  doubt  an  element 
of  truth  in  this  somewhat  categorical  statement.  No 
doubt  it  is  true  of  the  man  of  many  possessions  who  has 
not  solved  the  secret  of  happiness  by  the  aid  of  ac- 
cumulated riches,  but  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  so  in 
dealing  with  the  case  of  the  poor  man  who  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave  is  forced  to  live,  as  are  one-third  of 
our  population,  below  the  poverty  line.  The  right  use 
and  ordering  of  the  imagination  cannot  bring  true 
happiness  and  joy  and  peace  when  he  has  ever  before 
him  the  spectre  of  ill-health,  of  starvation  for  his  wife 
and  family.  Is  it  not  the  very  travesty  of  consolation 
to  talk  to  such  a  man  of  the  right  use  and  ordering  of 
the  imagination  ?  No  doubt  the  exercise  of  this  faculty 
universally  will  be  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  humanity 
when  once  society  has  been  reorganised,  so  that  there 
is  sufficient  for  all  men's  wants  and  no  one  need  suffer 
the  horrors  of  anxiety  with  regard  to  those  they  love 
when  illness  cuts  off  the  means  of  subsistence. 

When  such  matters  are  discussed  we  constantly  hear 
the  reiteration  of  the  phrase  :  "As  long  as  human 
nature  is  what  it  is,  the  thing  is  impossible."  But 
human  nature  has  altered  and  is  altering  ;  the  outlook 
has  widened  ;  men  have  got  away  from  "  self  "  to  a 
very  large  extent ;  the  process  is  one  of  evolution,  and 
is  therefore  slow.  To  be  lasting  it  must  be  so,  and,  as 
pointed  out  already,  it  could  not  have  originated  nor 
continued  without  a  fundamental  change  in  the  nature 
of  man.  This  came  with  the  advent  of  Christian 
altruism  ;  it  grew  at  first  very  slowly  and  imper- 
ceptibly, but  latterly  with  greater  and  greater  force, 
until  now  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  main  factor  in  human 
affairs,  affecting  as  it  does  the  relation  between  man 
and  man,  master  and  employe,  capital  and  labour,  all 
legislation  for  the  betterment  of  humanity  and 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     167 

amelioration  of  society  generally,  and  even  inter- 
national relations,  and  decisions  as  to  peace  and  war. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  there  remains  much  room  in 
human  nature  for  the  exercise  of  self-sacrifice  and  the 
submersion  of  the  old  instinct  of  acquisitiveness,  the 
domination  of  the  law  of  righteousness,  and  sweet 
reasonableness,  but  we  are  consoled  by  the  fact  that 
the  spiritual  evolution  is  in  process,  and  can  see  no 
reason  why  all  the  influences  of  the  desire  for  happiness 
for  oneself  and  others,  combined  with  the  ideals  of  the 
highest  development  for  each  and  every  unit  of  society, 
should  not  augment  the  force  of  this  ethical  develop- 
ment, so  that  before  many  generations  have  passed  we 
may  behold  the  ideal  man  in  the  ideal  world. 

Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  has  been  writing  lately  on  "  Labour 
Unrest."  He  says  some  wise  things  conjoined  with 
some  unwise  ones  ;  we  fear  he  lacks  profound  insight 
into  the  lesson  of  history  and  into  the  fact  that  the 
"  unrest  "  and  demands  of  labour  are  due  entirely  to  an 
advance  in  the  process  of  ethical  evolution,  and  repre- 
sent a  phase  which  was  bound  to  take  place  if  further 
development  were  to  be  a  possibility.  "  We  are  caught 
short  of  scientific  men,"  he  writes,  "  just  as  in  the  event 
of  war  with  Germany  we  shall  almost  certainly  be 
caught  short  of  scientific  soldiers  and  sailors.  You 
cannot  make  that  sort  of  thing  to  order  in  a  crisis." 
Before  proceeding  further  with  this  extract  one  must 
point  out  here  the  limitation  of  mental  vision,  evidenced 
sometimes  in  the  minds  of  men  of  even  considerable 
brain  power.  One  is  inclined  to  call  this  literary  small 
talk,  but  admitting  that  Mr.  Wells  believes  what  he 
writes,  does  it  not  show  that  he  has  not  yet  really  studied 
the  matter  ?  He  wants  scientific  men,  but  he  refrains 
himself  from  dealing  with  this  important  subject  from 
the  scientific  standpoint.  The  lesson  of  history  is  that 
our  navy  has  always  known  its  work,  that  it  has  never 


l68     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

failed  to  defend  our  shores  and  maintain  our  supremacy, 
that  it  is  the  one  service  in  the  State  whose  motto  is 
"  efficiency,"  that  British  lads  make  the  finest  type 
of  sailor  the  world  can  produce,  that  their  target 
practice  with  big  guns  is  as  nearly  perfect  as  can  be 
looked  for,  that  all  other  countries  stand  in  awe  of  our 
sea  power,  that  the  country  demands  of  all  Govern- 
ments efficiency  in  this  service,  and  therefore  the 
attempt  to  raise  a  panic  of  fear  among  our  people  is 
unwarrantable  and  wrong.  We  ought  never  to  cease 
to  be  proud  of  our  ships  and  sailors,  and  show  our 
appreciation  as  long  as  they  may  be  necessary,  and  we 
ought  to  be  thankful  that  we  have  one  department  of 
the  State  which  remains  efficient,  and  which  will  tend  to 
grow  more  so  as  time  goes  on.  We  have  dealt  with  this 
passage  not  because  it  bears  on  the  theme  of  this 
chapter,  but  simply  to  point  out  that  all  processes  of 
thought  which  are  not  guided  by  accuracy  of  observed 
phenomena  are  sure  to  lead  one  away  from  the  truth  ; 
and  thus  it  is  that  Mr.  Wells's  further  remarks  on  this 
subject  of  "  Labour  Unrest  "  are  in  the  same  manner 
devoid  of  potency  or  guidance  in  this  present-day 
difficulty  in  our  social  organisation.  He  goes  on  : 
"  Scientific  education,  and  more  particularly  the 
scientific  education  of  our  owning  and  responsible 
classes,  has  been  crippled  by  the  bitter  jealousy  of  the 
classical  teachers  who  dominate  our  Universities,  by 
the  fear  and  hatred  of  the  Established  Church,  which 
so  very  largely  controls  our  upper-class  schools,  and  by 
the  entire  lack  of  understanding  and  support  on  the 
part  of  those  able  barristers  and  financiers  who  rule  our 
political  life.  Science  has  been  left  more  and  more  to 
men  of  modest  origin  and  narrow  outlook,  and  now  we 
are  beginning  to  pay  in  internal  dissensions,  and 
presently  we  may  have  to  pay  in  national  humiliation 
for  this  almost  organised  rejection  of  stimulus  and 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     169 

power."  Now  it  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  Universities, 
the  Established  Church,  the  barristers  and  financiers 
who  rule  our  political  life,  are  all  on  the  side  of  property 
and  the  maintenance  of  present-day  materialism, 
which  has  caused  and  is  causing  "  la  miser e,"  against 
which  "  Labour  "  has  quite  rightly  rebelled.  He  must 
know  that  the  present  condition  of  the  masses  is  un- 
paralleled, and  that  nearly  one-third  earn  less  than  the 
minimum  required  to  keep  them  in  the  necessary 
amount  of  comfort.  He  declares  himself  a  Socialist ; 
the  designation  is  strange,  since  talk  of  this  kind  is  a 
contradiction  to  such  an  appellation;  he  "breathes 
the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear,  and  breaks  it  to 
our  hope  !  "  The  present  state  is  one  of  "  national 
humiliation,"  and  is  much  more  to  be  ashamed  of  than 
the  fear  of  foreign  conquest.  If  he  is  a  Socialist,  should 
he  not  greet  the  present  unrest  with  a  cheer,  and 
join  in  the  demand  for  higher  wages  and  a  universal 
minimum  wage  for  all  workers,  so  that  no  household  in 
the  land  could  be  said  to  be  in  poverty,  for  improved 
conditions  of  life  all  round,  and  equality  of  opportunity 
universally  ?  Mr.  Wells,  we  fear,  has  no  appreciation 
of  the  lesson  of  history,  or  of  the  evolutionary  process 
at  present  operating  in  the  "  genus  homo  sapiens." 
Had  he  understood,  he  would  have  realised  that  the 
present  unrest  is  only  a  phase  of  the  gradual  change 
which  is  being  accomplished  in  the  organisation  of 
society  and  must  result  in  "  equality  of  opportunity  "  of 
happiness  for  every  member  of  the  State.  He  con- 
tinues :  "  It  is  to  the  independent  people  of  some 
leisure  and  resource  in  the  community  that  one  has  at 
last  to  appeal  for  such  large  efforts  and  understanding 
as  our  present  situation  demands."  This  is  indeed  a 
lame  conclusion  ;  people  of  leisure  under  present-day 
conditions  are  of  necessity  people  of  great  possessions, 
whose  interests  are  entirely  those  of  the  present  time 


170     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

and  are  concerned  solely  with  the  maintenance  of 
present-day  conditions.  They  are  entirely  opposed  to 
any  drastic  changes,  and  do  not  desire,  even  if  they 
understood,  any  ethical  evolution  which  is  destined  to 
remodel  before  long  the  face  of  society  and  the  con- 
ditions of  human  existence.  Mr.  Wells  shows  a  want 
of  knowledge  or  study  of  the  scientific  phenomena 
existing  in  history  and  of  the  evolutionary  process  so 
clearly  delineated  in  the  development  of  human  affairs. 
Mr.  Machen  follows  Mr.  Wells  in  attempts  to  diagnose 
the  cause  of  the  disorder  and  point  the  remedy.  But 
although  it  may  be  admitted  that  he  comes  a  little 
nearer  the  truth,  there  is  still  observable  the  same  lack 
of  the  scientific  study  of  observed  phenomena  and  a 
want  of  appreciation  of  the  teaching  of  history.  Let 
us  listen  to  him  for  a  moment.  "  By  all  means  let  us 
put  an  end  to  vile  conditions  and  slave  conditions  in 
our  labour  market.  .  .  .  What  is  the  great  remedy  ? 
.  .  .  The  cure  for  our  malady  is  contained  in  the  words : 
'  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you/  There  is  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  the  whole  matter  ;  and  the  medicine 
must  be  taken  by  rich  and  poor  alike  if  any  good  is  to 
be  done.  What  is  wanted  is  not  the  extra  bit  of  com- 
fort there,  the  extra  bit  of  luxury  there,  but  a  radical 
change  in  the  interior  man.  .  .  .  The  search  for  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven  no  doubt  sounds  vague  and  un- 
satisfying to  people  who  are  in  search  of  the  minimum 
wage,  but,  as  I  say,  there  is  no  help  for  it,  there  is  no 
other  way  ;  simply  because  happiness  is  a  state  of  the 
soul  or  spirit,  and  not  of  the  body  ;  and  spiritual 
maladies  cannot  be  cured  by  material  means.  Man  can 
only  be  happy  and  enjoy  a  state  of  well-being  through 
the  exercise  of  that  faculty  which  is  peculiar  to  man, 
that  is,  the  faculty  of  the  imagination.  This  is  the  true 
stone  of  the  philosophers,  transmuting  all  it  touches  to 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     171 

fine  and  pure  and  glittering  gold.  Having  this,  a  man 
will  be  in  the  state  of  bliss  in  the  midst  of  all  manner  of 
external  and  bodily  miseries  ;  without  it  he  will  be  an 
unhappy  wretch,  though  he  possess  a  wilderness  of 
motor-cars,  a  covey  of  aeroplanes,  and  a  house  in  Park 
Lane.  The  body  of  man  can  never  be  well  off  unless  his 
spirit  is  engaged  in  the  contemplation  of  the  mysteries 
and  the  beauties  of  the  Universe ;  unless  he  knows 
something  of  the  Bread  of  Heaven  and  the  wine  of 
angels,  his  cottage  loaf  will  be  as  ashes  in  his  mouth, 
and  his  beer  will  be  a  sour  drench.  .  .  .  Man,  by  his 
very  constitution,  is  not  made  to  do  mechanical  work  ; 
and  the  doing  of  it  makes  him  wretched  ;  and  for  the 
evil  I  can  see  no  cure. 

"  Secondly,  in  the  sixteenth  century  England  under- 
went a  process  which  is  called  the  Reformation — in 
my  opinion  the  most  frightful  disaster  that  ever  over- 
took the  race  of  man.  Frightful  because  its  whole  work 
and  tendency  were  to  deny  the  mysteries,  to  take  the 
logical  understanding  out  of  its  place  and  set  it  on  the 
throne  of  the  imaginative  faculty,  to  deprive  the  spirit 
of  the  Bread  of  Heaven  and  the  wine  of  angels,  which 
are  the  true  meat  and  drink  of  us,  without  which  we 
perish. ' '  We  do  not  apologise  for  this  lengthy  quotation, 
because  Mr.  Machen  here  and  there  does  show  some 
glimmering  of  the  truth,  the  points  are  well  put,  and  the 
diction  is  of  a  high  order ;  but  the  perversion  of  ideas  on 
the  part  of  this  man  of  strong  literary  faculty,  through 
the  unscientific  study  of  history  and  humanity,  calls 
for  examination.  As  we  previously  remarked,  what  is 
the  good  of  talking  of  the  faculty  of  the  imagination, 
the  true  stone  of  the  philosophers,  to  men  who  are 
actually  suffering  physical  and  mental  pain  through 
no  fault  of  their  own,  as  the  result  of  a  bad  social 
system  ?  Is  it  not  absurd  to  talk  in  this  way  to  men 
who  have  been  brought  up  in  a  miserable  environment 


172     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

so  that  good  health  is  an  impossibility,  and  who  are 
suffering  mental  torture  from  the  dread  of  unemploy- 
ment or  the  sight  of  their  loved  ones  gnawed  with 
hunger  ?  Would  not  imagination  in  this  case  add  to 
the  misery  ?  It  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted  that 
until  you  create  a  healthy  and  comfortable  environ- 
ment for  the  toiling  millions,  with  leisure  to  devote 
to  intellectual  pursuits,  it  is  hopeless  to  talk  of  the 
exercise  of  imagination. 

Again,  what  profit  can  it  be  to  tell  a  man  whose  wife 
and  family  are  starving,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
you  "  ?  If  the  subject  were  not  so  painful,  the  advice 
would  be  positively  laughable  !  The  first  thing  to 
do  is  to  feed  him  and  those  dependent  on  him,  and 
see  to  it  that  such  circumstances  cannot  occur  again  ; 
then  when  his  mental  anguish  as  well  as  physical  pain 
have  been  relieved,  talk  to  him  of  the  Bread  of  Heaven 
and  the  wine  of  angels.  But  not  till  then ;  otherwise 
one  can  expect  and  will  receive  nothing  but  curses 
upon  this  hypocritical  cant.  The  sympathy  he  feels 
for  his  brother-man  and  the  determination  to  stand 
together  until  something  like  comfort  is  secured  is 
a  far  nobler  and  grander  thing  under  the  circumstances 
than  the  study  of  the  imagination. 

In  regard  to  the  kind  of  work  Mr.  Machen  is  in  error 
again.  No  doubt  the  ideal  work  for  man  is  the  tillage 
of  the  soil  and  the  reaping  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth. 
But  mechanical  work  can  be  most  interesting  and 
become  a  real  pleasure  provided  the  wages  are  suffi- 
cient to  supply  all  necessary  comforts  and  the  hours  of 
labour  not  too  prolonged.  These  are  the  two  cardinal 
mistakes  in  industrial  life  hitherto ;  and  they  must  be 
remedied,  so  that  for  every  man  there  shall  be  com- 
fort and  leisure.  Then  only  will  he  come  under  the 
full  influence  of  the  spiritual  evolution  operating  in 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     173 

society,  and  be  willing  to  sacrifice  himself  more  and 
more  in  the  interests  of  his  fellow-men  and  with  the 
view  of  improving  the  lot  of  the  generations  yet  to 
come. 

When  Mr.  Machen  comes  to  deal  with  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  he  drags  in  quite  unnecessarily,  it  becomes 
yet  more  evident  that  he  has  never  attempted  to  apply 
the  scientific  process  to  the  study  of  history.  If  it  were 
"  the  most  frightful  disaster  that  ever  overtook  the 
race  of  man,"  how  is  it  that  the  only  races  leading  now 
in  the  van  of  civilisation  and  the  most  advanced  in  the 
social  amelioration  of  their  peoples  are  those  who  were 
most  affected  by  the  great  movement  and  who  threw 
off  the  thraldom  of  the  Church  ?  Who  are  the  back- 
ward nations  of  Europe  to-day  ?  Are  they  not  those 
who  remain  under  the  domination  of  the  priesthood 
and  maintain  their  allegiance  to  the  Church  of  Rome  ? 
How  different  is  Benjamin  Kidd's  interpretation  of 
this  great  historical  movement  !  And  that  he  is  right 
will  be  acknowledged  by  all  men  trained  to  a  scientific 
study  of  the  phenomena  of  history.  Mr.  Kidd  writes 
("  Social  Evolution,"  p.  189)  :  "  If  we  are.  to  regard 
our  civilisation  as  a  single  organic  growth,  and  if,  for 
the  seat  of  these  vital  forces  that  are  producing  the 
movements  in  progress  around  us  we  must  look 
to  the  ethical  development  which  has  projected  itself 
through  the  history  of  the  Western  races,  it  is  evident 
that  it  is  from  the  epoch  of  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation  that  we  must,  in  a  strictly  scientific 
sense,  date  the  modern  expansion  of  society.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  science,  the  pre-Reformation  and 
the  post-Reformation  movement  is  an  unbroken 
unity  seen  in  different  stages  of  growth.  But  it  is  in  the 
period  of  the  post-Reformation  development  that  it 
became  the  destiny  of  the  religious  system  upon  which 
our  civilization  is  founded  to  release  into  the  practical 


74     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 


life  of  the  world  the  characteristic  product  which 
constitutes  such  a  powerful  motive  influence  enlisted 
in  the  cause  of  progress.  The  development  which  took 
place  at  this  stage  in  the  life  of  the  social  organism 
could  only  take  place  then.  The  time  for  it  can  never 
recur.  The  subsequent  course  of  social  development 
must  be  different  amongst  the  peoples  where  it  was 
retarded  or  suppressed,  and  amongst  those  where  it 
was  allowed  to  follow  its  natural  course.  The  nature 
of  this  difference  caused  by  the  greater  development 
of  the  humanitarian  feelings  and  the  greater  extent 
to  which  the  deepening  and  softening  of  character 
has  proceeded  amongst  the  peoples  most  affected 
by  the  Reformation  will  be  dealt  with  at  a  later  stage." 
Mr.  Kidd  continues  (ibid.,  p.  301-2) :  "  The  character  of 
the  people  had  in  fact  not  only  been  deepened  and 
strengthened,  it  had  been  softened  to  an  extent  hitherto 
unknown.  It  is  probable  that  the  changes  in  doctrine 
which  had  principally  contributed  to  produce  this 
result  were  those  which  had  tended  to  bring  the  in- 
dividual into  more  intimate  contact  with  the  actual  life 
and  example  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity,  and  there- 
fore with  the  essential  spirit  that  underlay  our  re- 
ligious system  and  served  to  distinguish  it  from  all 
other  systems.  As  has  been  frequently  pointed  out, 
the  characteristic  feature  of  Latin  Christianity  was 
different.  This  form  has  always  tended  as  it  still 
tends  to  treat  as  of  the  first  importance,  not  the  re- 
sulting change  in  character  of  the  individual  but 
rather  his  belief  in  the  authority  of  the  Church,  and 
of  an  order  of  men,  and  in  the  supreme  efficacy  of 
sacramental  ordinances,  which  the  Church  has  decreed 
itself  alone  competent  to  dispense.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  central  idea  of  the  Reformation  was  the  necessity 
for  a  spiritual  change  in  the  individual,  and  the 
recognition,  in  virtue  thereof  of  the  priesthood  in  his 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     175 

own  person.  As  Professor  Marshall  states :  '  Man 
was,  as  it  were,  ushered  straight  into  the  presence  of 
his  Creator  with  no  human  intermediary  ;  life  became 
intense  and  full  of  awe,  and  now,  for  the  first  time, 
large  numbers  of  rude  and  uncultured  people  yearned 
toward  the  mysteries  of  absolute  spiritual  freedom. 
The  isolation  of  each  person's  responsibility  from  that 
of  his  fellows  rightly  understood  was  a  necessary  con- 
dition for  the  highest  spiritual  progress.'  Thus,,  on 
the  one  hand,  individual  character  tended  to  be  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  isolation  of  individual  responsi- 
bility, and  on  the  other,  to  be  deepened  and  softened 
by  being  brought  into  close  and  intimate  contact  with 
those  wonderfully  moving  and  impressive  altruistic 
ideals  which  we  have  in  the  simple  story  of  the  life 
and  acts  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity. 

"The  resulting  difference  in  character,  however, 
assumes  profound  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the 
student  of  our  social  evolution.  The  fact  must  be 
kept  in  view,  which  has  been  throughout  insisted  on, 
that  it  is  this  softening  and  deepening  of  character 
with  the  accompanying  release  in  our  social  life  of  an 
immense  and  all-pervading  fund  of  altruistic  feeling 
which  has  provided  the  real  motive  force  behind  the 
whole  onward  movement  with  which  our  age  is  identi- 
fied. It  may  be  noticed,  consequently,  how  much 
further  the  development  of  the  altruistic  feelings  has 
progressed  in  those  parts  of  our  civilisation  most 
affected  by  the  movement  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  more  particularly  among  the  Anglo-Saxon 
peoples." 

He  goes  on  to  show  that  the  power-holding  classes 
are  in  full,  conscious  retreat  before  the  in-coming  people, 
that  they  have  lost  faith  in  their  own  cause,  and  either 
openly  or  in  their  hearts  are  on  the  side  of  the  masses : 
and  "  the  only  fighting  policy  of  the  party  is  one  of 


176     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

temporising  defence.  The  practical  consequence  is 
of  great  significance.  It  is  that  the  development  in 
which  the  excluded  masses  of  the  people  are  being 
brought  into  the  competition  of  life  on  a  footing  of 
equality  of  opportunity,  is  proceeding  and  will  ap- 
parently continue  to  proceed  in  Great  Britain,  not  by 
the  violent  stages  of  Revolution,  but  a  gradual  and 
orderly  process  of  social  change.  .  .  .  The  great  pro- 
cess is  proceeding  as  a  natural  and  orderly  develop- 
ment— we  are  adapting  the  old  institutions  to  the  new 
wants.  This  is  the  real  secret  of  that  political  genius 
which  the  Anglo-Saxon  peoples  are  now  displaying. 
When  we  turn  to  peoples  amongst  whom  the  Latin 
form  of  Christianity  prevails,  we  find  that  the  situation 
is  not  exactly  the  same.  The  profound  change  in 
social  character  has  not  proceeded  so  far.  The  deepen- 
ing of  individual  character,  resulting  in  a  certain 
inbred  sense  of  integrity,  which  has  rendered  the 
sense  of  wrong  intolerable,  and  the  softening  process 
which  has  made  the  Anglo-Saxon  peoples  so  sensitive 
to  the  sights  of  misery  or  suffering,  have  not  pro- 
gressed to  the  same  extent.  The  struggle  among  the 
peoples  who  have  not  been  so  deeply  affected  by  the 
humanitarian  movement  tends  to  become  more  a  sel- 
fish trial  of  strength  in  which  each  party  is  determinedly 
and  bitterly  fighting  for  its  own  material  interests, 
and  in  which  the  issue  swings,  according  to  the  relative 
strength  of  the  opponents,  between  successful  resistance 
on  the  one  hand  and  successful  revolution  on  the 
other." 

We  have  given  this  long  extract  to  prove  the  fallacy 
in  Mr.  Machen's  statement  and  also  to  show  the  enlight- 
enment which  attends  the  scientific  study  of  history. 
Moreover,  the  passages  quoted  have  a  most  important 
bearing  upon  the  social  amelioration  of  the  people  and 
the  altruistic  influences  at  work  as  a  result  of  the 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     177 

ethical  evolution  originated  by  the  Founder  of  our 
religion. 

After  consideration  of  these  ideas  of  Messrs.  Wells 
and  Machen,  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  the  present 
"labour  unrest "  must  be  allowed  to  work  itself  out,  with 
the  assurance  that  the  altruistic  influences  of  Chris- 
tianity will  raise  men  by  slow  steps  and  sure  to  a  higher 
spiritual  plane,  the  chief  feature  of  which  will  be  an 
increase  in  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  of  the  love  of 
one's  neighbour,  and  a  desire  to  raise  the  comfort  and 
well-being  of  the  race  to  a  higher  standard,  and  thus 
secure  for  succeeding  generations  a  gradual  better- 
ment in  the  conditions  of  existence.  At  present  it 
must  be  accepted  that  the  only  method  is  combination, 
and  as  long  as  the  workers  are  asked  to  work  for  in- 
sufficient reward,  their  only  resource  is  to  refuse  to  do 
so  until  their  demands  are  granted.  Before  long 
Parliament  will  find  it  necessary  by  legislation  to 
enforce  a  minimum  wage  in  all  industries.  All  who 
possess  abundant  means  must  accept  the  fact  that 
money  won't  go  so  far,  as  everything  will  be  dearer,  for 
the  reason  that  the  existence  of  the  workers  must  be 
made  tolerable,  and  no  one  need  ever  regret  the 
extra  expenditure  when  it  is  realised  that  "  la  miser e  " 
is  no  longer  the  spectre  shadowing  our  trade  and  com- 
merce. As  a  matter  of  fact  the  altruism  possessing 
our  minds  is  urging  on  with  all  possible  speed  the 
betterment  of  these  deplorable  conditions,  and  the 
demands  for  reform  are  acquiring  momentum  which 
ere  long  will  prove  irresistible. 

Considering  the  long  period  during  which  the  workers 
have  been  compelled  to  toil  in  conditions  of  poverty 
and  misery,  it  is  no  wonder  that  at  last,  realising  the 
power  they  possess,  they  should  use  it  somewhat 
ruthlessly.  When  men  are  aching  under  a  sense  of 
injustice  and  convinced  beyond  all  doubt  of  the 


178     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

righteousness  of  their  cause,  in  the  interests  of  them- 
selves and  their  children  it  is  only  to  be  expected  that 
their  action  would  be  precipitate.  Life  is  short,  and 
to  men  whose  aspirations  are  infinite,  action  must  be 
taken  and  reform  accomplished  now  or  never.  In  the 
last  great  strike,  of  1912,  no  doubt  thought  should  have 
been  given  by  the  miners  to  the  millions  outside  of 
their  own  industry  who  were  already  in  misery  and 
were  only  made  to  suffer  in  an  increased  degree.  Had 
the  "sweet  reasonableness  "  of  Christian  ethics  operated 
with  greater  potency,  the  interest  of  all  workers,  and 
especially  of  the  very  poor,  would  have  met  with  every 
consideration,  and  the  trade  unions  would  have  seen  to 
it  that  help  was  given  all  round  and  that  the  interests 
of  the  class  of  workers  immediately  concerned  were 
not  allowed  to  injure  those  of  others — equally  necessary 
to  the  body  politic  but  not  so  able  to  defend  them- 
selves. But  the  evolutionary  process  has  not  yet 
developed  sufficiently  to  allow  of  the  organisation  of 
such  a  plan,  and  this  imperfection  in  method  was  the 
very  reason  why  the  strike  failed  to  accomplish  its 
full  intention.  By  degrees  it  became  evident  that  the 
mass  of  the  people  did  not  support  the  strikers  on 
account  of  the  too  great  self-assertion  of  their  own 
interests  to  the  neglect  of  greater  sufferers  outside. 
When  once  Labour  is  so  organised  as  to  act  on  behalf 
of  each  section  without  injury  to  others,  when  once  it 
is  imbued  with  that  altruism  which  is  slowly  pervading 
the  thoughts  of  all  men,  then  only  will  it  become  the 
supreme  power  in  the  State,  and  the  greatest  factor 
in  the  higher  evolution  of  the  race  and  promoter  of  the 
happiness  of  men. 

Notwithstanding  this  defect  in  method,  by  their 
efforts  and  self-sacrifice  in  the  interest  of  burdened 
members  of  their  own  class,  the  miners  secured  a 
triumph,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for  all  workers. 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     179 

The  introduction  and  passing  into  law  of  the  principle 
of  a  minimum  wage  is  of  overwhelming  importance, 
and  its  full  effect  is  not  yet  realised.  It  is  the  first  real 
assertion  by  the  State  of  its  intention  to  secure  for 
every  worker  in  the  land  a  wage  sufficient  to  give  him 
all  necessary  comforts,  to  put  an  end  once  and  for  all 
to  "  la  miser e,"  which  has  been  forced  upon  one-third 
of  the  population,  in  order  that  a  small  section  of  the 
community  might  accumulate  unnecessary  wealth  and 
property,  or  live  in  excessive  luxury  which  only  accom- 
plishes their  degeneration  and  decay.  Therefore]  it  is 
that  the  name  of  "  Asquith  "  shall  mark  an  epoch  in 
human  evolution,  and  indicate  the  "  fair  beginning  of 
a  time";  for  this  one  deed,  if  for  no  other,  his  name 
shall  be,  "  as  long  as  memory  holds  her  seat,"  em- 
blazoned on  the  page  of  history  and  immortalised  upon 
the  scroll  of  heroes.  No  doubt  it  shall  be  said  he  was 
forced  to  take  this  action,  and  to  a  certain  extent  this 
is  true,  but  a  weaker  man  would  have  taken  what  is 
commonly  called  "  strong  "  action  and  precipitated 
a  revolution.  The  Prime  Minister  preserved  the  tra- 
dition of  the  nation's  past,  and  his  own,  and  restored 
order  out  of  chaos,  and  shed  the  divine  light  of  hope 
over  the  spirit  of  the  toiling  millions.  The  late  laureate 
cried  in  despair : 

"  Ah  God,  for  a  man  with  heart,  head,  hand, 
Like  some  of  the  simple  great  ones  gone 
For  ever  and  ever  by, 
One  still  strong  man  in  a  blatant  land, 
Whatever  they  call  him,  what  care  I, 
Aristocrat,  democrat,  autocrat — one 
Who  can  rule  and  dare  not  lie." 

But  he  reckoned  without  the  spiritual  evolution  of 
man,  otherwise  he  would  have  known  that  God  repeats 
Himself  in  many  ways,  and  that  from  age  to  age  the 
light  of  heaven  is  made  to  descend  upon  the  race  of 


180     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

men  and  point  the  way  to  peace  and  joy.  All  who  can 
lay  aside  political  prejudice  will  agree  that  in  the 
person  of  the  Chief  Minister  of  the  Crown  we  have  such 
a  man,  and  will  join  in  this  tribute  in  his  honour,  and  in 
gratitude  for  his  help  in  the  amelioration  of  society, 
and  aid  in  securing  the  opportunity  of  a  higher  spiritual 
evolution,  not  only  for  the  toilers  of  the  land  but  for 
the  nation  as  a  whole. 

As  a  nation  we  ought  never  to  forget  our  great  men. 
One  of  the  greatest  books  ever  written,  we  firmly  believe, 
was  "  Heroes  and  Hero- Worship,"  and  we  have  often 
thought  if  it  were  read  in  schools  it  would  do  more  to 
influence  the  young  mind  for  good,  to  help  it  to  learn 
the  real  lesson  of  history,  and  give  it  a  true  love  of 
the  best  literature,  and  set  it  on  the  high  road  to  a 
wider  culture  than  most  of  the  so-called  "  knowledge." 
And  Thomas  Carlyle  was  one  of  the  greatest  and 
best  who  have  been  sent  into  this  world  to  raise 
the  soul  of  man.  Would  that  he  were  more  studied 
and  revered — the  enemy  of  all  hypocrisy  and  cant, 
and  a  true  disciple  of  the  Eternal,  like  one  of  the 
prophets  of  old,  warning  men  of  the  Nemesis  of  sin 
and  pointing  the  only  way  of  rest  for  their  souls. 
"  We  all  love  great  men,"  he  says,  "  love,  venerate, 
and  bow  down  before  great  men.  Nay  !  Can  we 
honestly  bow  down  to  anything  else  ?  And  to  me  it  is 
very  cheering  to  consider  that  no  general  insincerity, 
triviality,  and  aridity  of  any  time  and  its  influences 
can  destroy  this  noble  inborn  loyalty  and  worship  that 
is  in  man.  .  .  .  One  comfort  is  that  great  men,  taken 
up  in  any  way,  are  profitable  company.  We  cannot 
look,  however  imperfectly,  upon  a  great  man  without 
gaining  something  by  him.  He  is  the  living  light 
fountain  which  it  is  good  and  pleasant  to  be  near — the 
light  which  enlightens,  which  has  enlightened  the  dark- 
ness of  the  world  ;  and  this,  not  as  a  kindled  lamp  only, 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     1 8 1 

but  as  a  natural  luminary  shining  by  the  gift  of  heaven, 
a  flowing  light  fountain,  as  I  say,  of  native  original 
insight,  of  manhood,  and  heroic  nobleness,  in  whose 
radiance  all  souls  must  feel  that  it  is  well  with  them." 
Why  do  we  quote  this  ?  To  show  how  necessary  it  is 
that  we  study  the  thoughts  of  the  great  ones  of  the 
past,  for  in  them  we  possess  the  most  potent  factor  in 
helping  on  the  spiritual  evolution  of  humanity.  A 
general  rise  in  intellectual  development  is  necessary  to 
the  spiritual  evolution  of  man.  In  another  notable 
passage  Carlyle  makes  this  very  clear  :  "  Beautiful  it 
is,  and  a  gleam  from  the  same  eternal  pole-star,  visible 
amid  the  destinies  of  men,  that  all  talent,  all  intellect, 
is  in  the  first  place  moral ;  what  a  world  were  this 
otherwise.  But  it  is  the  heart  always  that  sees  before 
the  head  can  see  ;  let  us  know  that  and  know  therefore 
that  the  good  is  deathless  and  victorious,  that  hope  is 
sure  and  steadfast  in  all  phases  of  this  '  Place  of  Hope.' ' 
It  is  very  necessary  that  the  full  meaning  of  this 
sublime  passage  should  be  realised.  Think  of  it — all 
intellect,  all  talent  is  in  the  first  place  moral,  therefore 
the  good  alone  is  deathless  and  victorious.  It  follows 
as  a  necessary  consequence  that  leisure  for  culture  is 
necessary  to  the  higher  evolution  of  humanity. 
Matthew  Arnold,  another  great  man,  for  whom  we 
cannot  be  sufficiently  grateful,  defined  "  Culture  "  as 
"  a  knowledge  of  the  best  that  has  been  known  and  said 
in  the  world,  and  thus  with  the  history  of  the  human 
spirit."  How  necessary  is  it,  then,  that  all  men — the 
children  of  the  toiling  millions  as  well  as  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  rich  and  privileged — should  have 
leisure  whereby  they  can  acquire  this  knowledge  of  the 
best  things  which  have  been  said  by  the  best  men,  and 
expressed  in  the  best  way — the  radiance  emanating  from 
those  "  living  light  fountains  which  have  enlightened 
the  darkness  of  the  world  .  .  natural  luminaries 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

shining  by  the  gift  of  heaven."  And  Ruskin  can  be 
called  to  witness  in  this  regard  :  "  The  Fine  Art  is  that 
in  which  the  hand,  the  head,  and  the  heart  of  man  go 
together.  .  .  .  Thoroughly  perfect  Art  is  that  which 
proceeds  from  the  heart,  which  involves  all  the  noble 
emotions,  associates  with  these  the  head,  yet  as 
inferior  to  the  heart ;  and  the  hand  as  inferior  to  the 
heart  and  head,  and  thus  brings  out  the  whole  man."  l 

These  three  passages  ought  never  to  be  forgotten ; 
first,  Carlyle's  :  "  All  talent,  all  intellect  is  in  the  first 
place  moral,  therefore  the  good  alone  is  deathless  and 
victorious  "  ;  secondly,  Ruskin's  :  "  Thoroughly  per- 
fect Art  is  that  which  proceeds  from  the  heart  '  as  the 
prime  factor/  associates  with  these  the  head  and  the 
hand,  yet  as  inferior  to  the  heart  "  ;  and  thirdly, 
Matthew  Arnold's  :  "  Culture  is  the  knowledge  of  the 
best  that  has  been  known  and  said  in  the  world,  and 
thus  with  the  history  of  the  human  spirit."  These 
sayings  of  three  of  our  greatest  and  best  men  do  indeed 
give  us  cause  for  hope  and  rejoicing.  All  intellect,  all 
pure  Art  is  moral,  and  therefore  the  attainment  of 
culture  should  be  made  possible  to  every  unit  of  society, 
and  when  this  is  accomplished  the  spiritual  evolution 
of  the  race  is  assured.  The  culture  of  the  ages,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  is  being  brought  nearer  to  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  from  day  to  day,  and  is  helping  with 
increasing  power  the  gradual  advance  of  that  spiritual 
evolution  which  the  advent  of  Jesus  brought  within  the 
compass  of  the  human  spirit. 

The  loyalty  and  worship  of  all  men  to  the  great  ones 
"  gone  for  ever  and  ever  by  "  is  a  constant  tribute  to 
the  ascendancy  and  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual  in  the 
nature  of  man,  and  of  the  power  it  wields  in  moulding 
the  advance  of  the  race.  "  Man  worships  what  is  above 

1  From  a  lecture  on  the  "  Unity  of  Art,"  and  incorporated  in 
his  book  "  The  Two  Paths." 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     183 

him  " — the  ideal  is  ever  in  the  recesses  of  his  mind,  as 
an  essential  element  of  his  nature,  and  by  constant 
endeavour,  unconsciously  it  may  be,  he  hopes  to  attain 
unto  it.  And  if  this  ideal  is  an  essential  of  his  nature, 
how  did  it  originate  unless  implanted  by  the  Eternal, 
and  does  it  not  prove,  as  far  as  fair  deduction  can,  the 
immanence  of  the  Divine  ?  We  are  now  able  to  under- 
stand the  appeal  which  the  altruism  of  Jesus  made  to 
this  spark  of  the  Infinite  and  the  Eternal  which  is  in 
every  man,  and  by  this  means  stimulated  its  evolution 
to  higher  and  higher  flights,  until  the  supremacy  of  the 
law  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  has  become  the  supreme 
fact  hi  the  advance  of  the  race.  "  Self-abnegation 
means  self-realisation  "  is  a  truth  of  pregnant  force, 
and  that  is  why  man  only  realises  true  happi- 
ness when  he  subdues  self  and  sacrifices  his  own 
interests  to  those  of  others.  The  hero  in  olden  days 
was  ennobled  by  the  thought  : 

"  How  can  man  die  better 

Than  facing  fearful  odds 
For  the  ashes  of  his  fathers 

And  the  temples  of  his  gods  ?  " 

This  was  a  great  thought  and  the  highest  of  which 
man  was  capable  in  the  days  when  materialism  was  in 
the  ascendant.  But  with  the  advent  of  Jesus  the 
ascendancy  of  the  spirit  and  the  higher  evolution  of  the 
race  became  the  potent  factors.  It  will  not  be  con- 
sidered inappropriate  that  we  should  recall  a  few  of  the 
sayings  and  teachings  of  the  Master  and  His  dis- 
ciples after  Him,  and  reflect  upon  the  power  they 
exercise  as  from  age  to  age  they  distil  their  "  sweet 
reasonableness  "  in  the  minds  of  men  :  "In  lowliness 
of  mind,  let  each  esteem  other  better  than  himself." 
"  Be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving 
one  another,  even  as  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  hath  for- 
given you."  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so 


1 84     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

fulfil  the  law  of  Christ."    "  Whosoever  of  you  will  be 
the  chief est  shall  be  servant  of  all."    "  Looking  unto 
Jesus,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,  who,  for 
the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand 
of  God."    "  Beloved,  let  us  love  one  another  ;  for  love 
is  of  God  ;   and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God, 
and  knoweth  God."    "  Beloved,  if  God  so  loved  us,  we 
ought  also  to  love  one  another."    "  These  things  I  have 
spoken  unto  you,  that  in  Me  ye  might  have  peace.    In 
the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  :    but  be  of  good 
cheer  :  I  have  overcome  the  world."    "  I  lay  down  My 
life  for  the  sheep.    No  man  taketh  it  from  Me,  but  I 
lay  it  down  of  Myself.    I  have  power  to  lay  it  down 
and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again."    "  Come  unto  Me, 
all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest.    Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me  ; 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :   and  ye  shall  find 
rest  unto  your  souls.    For  My  yoke  is  easy,  and  My 
burden  is  light."    "  Sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give 
to  the  poor."    "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  the  least 
of  these  My  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  Me."    "  He  that 
saith  he  abideth  in  Him,  ought  so  to  walk  even  as  He 
walked."    "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit :   for  theirs 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn  :   for  they  shall  be  comforted.    Blessed  are  the 
meek :    for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth.    Blessed  are 
they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  : 
for  they  shall  be  filled.    Blessed  are  the  merciful :   for 
they  shall  obtain  mercy.    Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart : 
for  they  shall  see  God.    Blessed  are  the  peacemakers  : 
for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God.    Blessed 
are  they  which  are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake  : 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.    Blessed  are  ye, 
when  men  shall  revile  you,  and  persecute  you.  .  .  . 
Rejoice,  and  be  exceedingly  glad  :    for  great  is  your 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     185 

reward  in  heaven.  But  I  say  unto  you,  love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully 
use  you."  .  .  .  "He  that  is  without  sin  among  you, 
let  him  cast  the  first  stone." 

Men  ever  since  His  time  on  earth  have  read  and 
repeated  His  sayings  and  teachings,  and  studied  the 
sweet  beauty  of  His  life,  and  aspired  to  reach  the  ideal 
which  He  preached,  through  the  practice  of  self-sacri- 
fice and  love  of  the  brethren.  Many  died,  as  He  did, 
for  the  faith ;  they  died,  as  He  did,  that  we  might  live ; 
they  pointed  the  way  by  the  supremest  of  all  sacrifices  ; 
they  stimulated  us  by  a  noble  example,  which  influences 
our  thoughts  consciously  and  unconsciously,  and  is 
bringing  about  the  betterment  of  mankind  through 
the  operation  of  the  law  of  Love.  Many  and  great 
things  require  to  be  done  ;  the  path  is  steep  and  the 
burden  heavy,  but  the  end  is  assured ;  history  proves 
it,  and  the  spiritual  evolution  of  man  is  at  work 
now,  not  only  in  the  interests  of  those  who  bear  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  day  at  the  present  time,  but  in 
that  of  the  unborn  generations  yet  to  appear.  Do  we 
not  all  derive  joy  and  satisfaction  in  the  thought  that 
things  are  always  getting  better  and  conditions 
ameliorating  for  our  sons  and  daughters,  and  that 
the  prospect  is  improving  increasingly  for  the  future 
of  mankind  ? 

The  lesson  of  history  was  a  necessary  study  if  the 
argument  was  to  have  power  with  men,  as  the  aim 
of  this  volume  is  to  demonstrate  its  truth  as  being 
the  only  possible  conclusion,  after  giving  every 
consideration  to  the  observed  phenomena  of  nature ; 
and,  in  so  far  as  we  enter  into  the  region  of  theory,  that 
this  is  the  only  logical  sequence  of  the  scientific  pro- 
cess of  thought  founded  upon  these  and  the  lesson  of 
history. 


1 86     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

The  lesson  of  history  demonstrated  the  phenomena 
of  our  Western  civilisation  to  be  the  improved  social 
condition  of  the  people  as  the  result  of  an  ethical 
evolution,  which  had  progressively  extended  its  in- 
fluence upon  mankind  ever  since  the  dawn  of  the 
Christian  era,  and  the  permeation  of  men's  minds  with 
a  sense  of  duty  in  the  direction  of  securing  the  welfare 
of  humanity  as  a  whole.  And  the  progress  of  this 
spiritual  evolution  has  been  demonstrated  to  be  a  new 
thing  in  the  world's  history,  and  can  be  shown  to  be  in 
abeyance  in  the  non-Christian  peoples  of  to-day.  And 
there  is  the  further  fact  that  it  is  only  the  nations  who 
have  given  full  play  to  this  ethical  principle  who  can 
claim  to  be  first-class  powers  in  the  van  of  civilisation 
and  world  policy,  and  who  are  showing  that  capacity 
for  endurance  and  permanence  which  the  ancient, 
military,  material  empires  of  Greece  and  Rome  were 
unable  to  secure. 

And  this  progressive  spiritual  evolution  is  leading  us 
slowly  but  surely  towards  the  final  goal  as  far  as  this 
world  is  concerned — the  "  Ideal  State,"  with  which  we 
shall  shortly  deal.  The  cynic  and  the  scoffer  no  doubt 
can  be  heard  railing  against  interference  with 

"  The  good  old  rule,  the  simple  plan, 
That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power, 
And  they  should  keep  who  can." 

The  vast  majority  know  that  this  is  the  rule  by 
which  we  are  governed  now  ;  the  rights  of  property  are 
too  secure  to  allow  of  any  sudden  change  in  method, 
but  much  has  been  done  which  could  not  have  been 
done  if  such  an  evolution  were  non-existent.  As  we 
have  pointed  out  already,  we  have  abolished  slavery, 
given  free  education,  regulated  the  hours  of  labour  in 
such  occupations  as  mines  and  factories,  improved 
conditions  of  work,  of  housing,  of  pay,  established  a 
system  of  poor  law  which  ere  long  will  be  greatly 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     187 

improved,  of  preventive  medicine,  sanitation,  town 
planning,  old  age  pensions,  and  state  insurance.  These 
latter  measures,  of  the  utmost  beneficence,  have  been 
classed  together  as  State  Socialism.  This  term  is 
intended  by  those  who  use  them  to  pour  contempt  on 
this  policy.  Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  objec- 
tions raised  in  opposition  to  the  Old  Age  Pension  Act 
when  introduced.  It  proceeded,  of  course,  from  the 
rich  man,  not  necessarily  the  immensely  rich  :  by  the 
rich  man  we  mean  the  tax-payer.  We  were  told  that 
the  great  principle  of  thrift  would  be  destroyed  ;  we 
were  attacking  the  independence  of  the  poor  and 
pauperising  the  working  classes,  and  shattering  the 
foundation  of  society  by  the  negation  of  the  sense  of 
duty  of  children  towards  their  aged  parents,  by  pre- 
venting the  former  from  manifesting  their  affection  by 
maintaining  the  latter  when  too  feeble  to  earn  their 
own  livelihood.  It  is  fortunately  unnecessary  now  to 
combat  such  arguments,  and  one  only  need  be  dealt 
with  to  show  the  fallacy  of  all.  We  ask :  Is  it  possible 
for  a  married  man  with  a  family  of  his  own,  with  wages 
insufficient  for  his  own  wants,  and  thus  himself  living 
below  the  poverty  line,  to  maintain  his  aged  parents  ? 
It  is,  of  course,  an  utter  impossibility;  and  when 
attempted  the  only  result  was  to  increase  the  sum  of 
human  misery.  The  fact  remains,  after  scientific 
examination  of  the  effect  of  this  measure,  that  by  the 
removal  of  the  stigma  of  pauperism  alone,  and  the 
consequent  ability  of  aged  couples  to  remain  in  their 
own  dwellings  and  keep  outside  the  dreaded  workhouse, 
it  can  be  stated  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  it 
has  done  more  to  increase  the  sum  of  human  happiness 
than  any  other  legislation  of  modern  times.  This  act 
became  law  through  the  operation  in  men's  minds  of 
the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics  ;  it  may  not  have  been 
carried  by  the  votes  of  members  who  were  adherents  of 


1 88     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

our  churches  ;  many  may  have  professed  no  religious 
belief  whatever,  but  consciously  or  unconsciously  the 
influence  of  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  had 
permeated  their  minds.  This  is  a  striking  demonstra- 
tion of  the  spiritual  evolution  at  present  in  process,  and 
of  its  method  of  amelioration  of  society,  and  of  promo- 
tion of  humanity  step  by  step  to  a  higher  and  noble 
standard  of  being. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  it  is  essential  that  we 
should  deal  with  the  mechanist  philosophers,  repre- 
sented by  Haeckel  in  Germany  and  Lankester  in 
England.  Matter  and  energy,  according  to  them, 
fulfil  the  entire  requirements  of  the  Universe,  and 
physics  and  chemistry  explain  the  working  of  the 
whole  machine,  and  this  applies  to  the  organic  as 
well  as  the  inorganic  world.  A  volume  has  just  ap- 
peared by  Mr.  Hugh  S.  R.  Elliot,  entitled  "  Modern 
Science  and  the  Illusions  of  Professor  Bergson,"  and  is 
prefaced  by  Sir  Ray  Lankester.  As  this  book  con- 
tains a  very  categorical  and  emphatic  statement  of 
the  position  of  this  school  of  thought,  it  may  not  be 
unprofitable  to  examine  its  contents  for  a  little. 
Lankester  writes  :  "  As  to  what,  if  anything,  is  out- 
side or  behind  this  mechanism  of  Nature,  as  to  whence 
or  how  it  came  about,  or  whither  it  is  going,  as  to  what 
it  and  what  our  consciousness  of  it  really  are,  and  why 
it  is,  and  why  we  are  here,  modern  science  has  no 
answer.  .  .  .  One  may  regard  the  utmost  possibilities 
of  the  result  of  human  knowledge  as  a  bracket,  and 
place  outside  that  bracket  the  factor  x  to  represent 
those  unknown  and  unknowable  possibilities  which  the 
imagination  of  man  is  never  wearied  of  suggesting. 
The  factor  is  the  plaything  of  the  metaphysician.  Its 
existence  is  vehemently  denied  by  the  strict  materialist, 
and  as  vehemently  asserted  by  the  founders  of  theologi- 
cal creeds  and  so-called  metaphysical  systems.  The 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     1 89 

attitude  of  those  who  neither  deny  its  existence  nor 
assert  it,  and  in  any  case  hold  that  it  must  never  be 
mistaken  for,  or  confused  with,  the  contents  of  the 
bracket,  was  called  by  Huxley,  '  Agnosticism.'  It 
was  his  own  position,  and  one  which  is  now  very 
general."  As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  this 
is  only  a  partial  truth  in  regard  to  Huxley.  No  doubt 
he  was  the  protagonist  of  the  Agnostic  school,  but 
the  fact  remains  that  he  was  ultimately  forced  to 
the  conclusion  of  an  "  inscrutable  power "  behind 
the  machine.  I  believe  these  were  his  own  words  ;  at 
present  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  verify  this  statement ; 
however,  I  am  able  to  give  one  or  two  extracts  from 
the  article  on  "  Huxley "  in  the  "  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,"  which  prove  that  he  did  arrive  at  this 
conclusion  :  "  He  insisted,  however,  that  '  atheism 
is,  on  purely  philosophic  grounds,  untenable."  His 
theism  never  really  advanced  beyond  the  recognition 
of  "  the  passionless  impersonality  of  the  unknown  and 
the  unknowable,  which  Science  shows  everywhere  under- 
lying the  thin  veil  of  phenomena  "  ("  Life,"  i.  239).  We 
have  here  clear  proof  that  Huxley  was  compelled  to 
give  up  the  purely  materialist  standpoint  :  his  strong 
logical  faculty  and  power  of  reasoning,  combined  with 
wide  knowledge  and  outlook,  demanded  the  concept  of 
an  eternal,  omnipotent  Power,  who  must  logically 
be  the  designing  and  regulating  Power,  otherwise  why 
postulate  Him  at  all  ?  The  denial  of  Him  was,  "  on 
purely  philosophic  grounds,  untenable,"  and  even 
Science  proved  in  similar  fashion  unwarrantable,  for 
"  everywhere  "  there  is  evidence  of  an  inscrutable 
Power  "  underlying  the  thin  veil  of  phenomena."  The 
thin  veil  is  most  interesting,  and  is  certainly  damaging 
to  the  mechanists,  who  look  to  Huxley  as  the  high 
priest  of  their  dogma.  Truly,  out  of  their  own  mouths 
have  they  been  convicted  of  error. 


1 90     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

We  are  entitled  to  say  that  to-day  the  men  of  the 
highest  intellectual  gifts  demand  the  Deity  as  a  neces- 
sity of  thought.  We  know  this  statement  will  be  denied, 
and  we  are  well  aware  that  there  still  exist  scientific  men 
who  retain  the  agnostic  position,  but  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  great  scientific  attainment  is  not  neces- 
sarily accompanied  with  high  intellectual  capacity  or 
power  of  the  imaginative  faculty,  and  hence  the  satis- 
faction with  the  purely  material.  Moreover,  the  ab- 
sorption in  dead  matter  and  natural  law  unfortunately 
seems  to  produce  a  cast  of  thought  which  cannot  get 
beyond  the  purely  mechanical,  and  so  the  higher 
faculties  of  the  mind  become  blind  and  unappreciative 
of  the  other  phenomena  around  them — of  consciousness, 
thought,  spirit,  the  search  after  the  "  Ideal,"  the 
beauty  of  art,  poetry,  literature,  the  permanence  of 
intellect  in  contrast  to  the  decay  of  matter.  They  always 
profess  to  follow  Truth  and  cry  aloud,  "Magna  est  veritas 
et  prsevalebit,"  which  is  excellent  and  most  desirable, 
but  not,  when  only  one  aspect  is  presented  to  us.  The 
true  man  of  science  not  only  sees  the  earth  beneath 
him,  but  looks  around  and  above  and  takes  cognisance 
of  every  impression  which  humanity  can  convey,  and 
it  is  from  such  only  that  we  can  accept  with  reverence 
ideas  as  to  men  and  things,  the  laws  of  Nature,  the 
Cosmos,  and  the  Eternal.  The  mere  statement  that 
beyond  finite  knowledge  there  are  "  unknown  and 
unknowable  possibilities  "  conveys  nothing  to  us  ;  it 
is  arrogant  and  ought  never  to  be  made.  He  is  quite 
entitled  to  suppose  the  unknowable  possibilities,  but 
as  a  man  of  science  he  has  no  right  to  state  it  posi- 
tively. We  are  entitled  to  ask  him,  why  he  endeavours 
to  follow  a  law  of  righteousness,  why  he  is  unhappy 
when  he  violates  it ;  how  or  when  did  he  acquire  a 
conscience  ?  Are  consciousness,  thought,  conscience, 
the  law  of  righteousness,  not  as  important  as  gravita- 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     1 9 1 

tion,  and  the  conservation  of  energy  ?  These  laws  of 
matter  are  a  necessity  of  life  upon  the  earth  and  the 
continuity  of  the  machine,  but  apart  from  conscious  life 
they  need  not  be  regarded,  and  for  all  we  know  may 
be  mere  transient  agencies  ;  they  are  the  seen  and  the 
temporal ;  what  of  the  unseen  and  the  eternal  ? 
Why  does  he  not  penetrate  the  things  of  the  mind  ? 
Why  is  he  miserable,  we  repeat,  when  he  is  cruel  and 
unjust,  or  greedy  and  unscrupulous  ?  Why  is  he  happy 
when  the  cause  of  happiness  in  others  ?  These  things 
far  transcend  the  laws  of  dead  matter ;  considering 
the  transitory  nature  of  human  life  and  the  terrible 
misery  of  a  large  proportion  of  mankind,  the  thoughts 
of  the  best  minds  are  far  more  important  than  the 
forces  of  matter.  Such  things  as  thought  and  the 
law  of  righteousness  are  entities  which  neither  Pro- 
fessor Lankester  nor  anyone  else  has  any  right  to 
put  aside.  How  did  conscience  arise  ?  Why  did  con- 
science evolve  if  it  came  only  in  later  days  ?  How  is 
man  impelled  to  self-sacrifice  ?  Why  are  men  and 
women  to-day  giving  their  lives  to  raise  the  standard 
of  well-being  among  the  poor  and  miserable  ?  These 
are  not  bodily  secretions  or  excretions.  They  are  not 
mere  brain  products — the  result  of  chemical  action  in 
the  cerebral  nerve  cells  ;  no  doubt  this  is  the  medium 
of  their  evolution  and  transformation  into  speech, 
but  it  is  absurd  to  postulate  that  conscience  and  self- 
sacrifice  are  the  result  of  chemical  change  in  the 
cerebrum — and  nothing  more.  Such  statements  are  a 
travesty  of  science  and  only  bring  it  into  contempt. 
These  entities  are  knowable,  and  yet  beyond  sight, 
taste,  smell,  sound,  or  sensation.  They  rest  upon 
consciousness,  which  implies  thought,  which  implies 
intuition;  and  intuition  implies  a  something  apart 
from  the  body  and  its  purely  physical  functions,  and 
we  are  quite  entitled  to  call  it  spirit  or  soul,  if  we  so 


192     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

desire.  It  is  such  a  process  of  deduction  which  causes 
one  to  believe  that  Bergson  is  scientifically  right  and 
the  mechanists  wrong ;  again  we  say :  let  the 
mechanists  reject  the  spiritual  side  of  man's  nature  at 
their  peril. 

Is  history  not  science  ?  If  it  is,  why  do  not  the 
mechanists  investigate  it  ?  We  suppose  because  it  is 
not  a  concrete  thing  ;  it  is  not  a  "  gross  material  fact." 
Surely  the  history  of  human  thought,  imagination,  and 
culture  are  worth  investigating ;  these  are  higher 
things  than  matter,  which,  after  all,  is  only  the  medium 
of  life  :  it  fulfils  no  other  purpose,  and  in  the  scheme 
of  things  is  subservient  to  the  spirit  of  man.  Apart 
from  consciousness,  the  whole  cosmos  may  return  to 
chaos  for  all  the  purpose  it  would  serve,  colossal  as  it 
is  !  That  being  so,  why  make  such  a  fuss  about 
matter,  when  we  have  such  a  marvellous  force  as  the 
mind  to  investigate?  No;  Bergson  may  be  false  in 
many  of  his  analogies  and  conclusions,  but  he  is  by  no 
means  submerged ;  he  still  holds  the  field  against  his 
opponents  of  the  mechanist  school ;  and  we  believe 
the  majority  of  intellectual  men  will  be  more  likely  to 
decide  in  favour  of  "  creative  evolution  "  rather  than 
the  abstract  theory  of  "  natural  selection,"  now  at  last 
discovered  to  be  a  broken  reed,  and  devoid  of  support 
from  the  observed  phenomena  of  nature. 

One  is  surprised  to  find  a  man  of  Professor  Lankes- 
ter's  position  and  reputation  resuscitating  the  stale 
and  well-worn  platitude  of  "  the  blind  man  in  the  dark 
room  hunting  for  a  black  hat,  which  isn't  there,"  as 
a  satire  on  the  metaphysician.  It  is  both  puerile  and 
futile  ;  the  author  of  it  may  have  been  a  great  lawyer, 
but  we  make  bold  to  state  that  he  was  not  a  great 
thinker  ;  no  great  thinker  could  ever  have  given  ex- 
pression to  such  pusillanimous  twaddle  ;  it  may  be 
considered  smart,  but  in  scientific  matters  we  do  not 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     193 

heed  such  expressions  ;  we  are  only  concerned  with 
Truth,  and  this  definition  is  untrue.  Fortunately  for 
humanity  there  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth 
than  are  dreamt  of  in  Sir  Ray  Lankester's  laboratory  ; 
we  may  appropriately  quote  him  against  himself  and 
say  he  "  becomes  a  maker  of  untruth  and  for  those 
who  listen  to  him  a  harmful '  Confusions  Meister.' ' 

Mr.  Elliot  begins  his  argument  with  Bergson  in  this 
manner  :  "  Metaphysical  systems  generally,  however 
we  may  admire  their  wonderful  ingenuity  and  subtlety, 
can  have  no  interest  for  science  unless  they  are  founded 
on  gross  material  facts  which  can  be  examined  and 
verified."  He  believes  the  universe  began  with 
matter  in  motion  subject  to  certain  laws,  but  as  to 
how  it  began  or  what  force  generated  the  initial 
energy  he  does  not  know,  and  apparently  does  not  care. 
He  might  have  known,  if  he  had  chosen  as  a  man  of 
science  to  extend  his  purview  to  every  possible 
phenomenon  of  nature,  and  not  turn  a  blind  eye  to 
such  phenomena  as  thought,  consciousness,  imagina- 
tion, etc.  These  things  are  not  concrete — they  are  not 
gross  material  facts,  therefore  he  doesn't  know  them. 
But  we  know  he  does  notwithstanding,  and  we  take 
no  denial.  One  has  only  to  read  his  book  to  see  that  he 
is  touched  by  the  beauty  and  imagination  of  human 
thought  and  the  elevated  ideas  it  originates.  He 
goes  on  to  inform  us  that  "  the  feeling  we  have  of 
necessity  to  explain  the  Universe  arises  from  the  con- 
formation of  our  brains,  which  think  by  associating 
disjoined  ideas."  What  is  this  but  mere  metaphysics, 
of  which  he  is  never  done  accusing  Bergson,  who  makes 
very  few,  if  any,  statements  more  unwarrantable  ? 
To  use  Mr.  Elliot's  own  method  of  argument  with  his 
opponent,  we  would  ask :  "  Did  he  ever  see  an  '  idea,' 
or  witness  its  evolution,  as  the  result  of  chemical  action 
in  the  nerve  cells  of  the  brain  ?  "  No ;  therefore 

N 


194     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

there  is  no  such  process,  and  yet  he  asserts  that  he 
founds  his  mechanistic  theory  on  ideas  of  what  he 
would  call  visible  and  tangible  evidences.  And  how 
little  he  knows  !  To  go  on  with  the  catechism  after 
his  own  fashion  :  How  did  the  Universe  begin  ?  Has 
it  existed  from  all  eternity  ?  If  not,  how  did  the  laws 
begin  to  operate  in  matter  ?  How  did  motion  begin  ? 
How  was  the  energy  generated  ?  Can  he  conceive  a 
Universe  such  as  he  knows  it,  without  intelligence 
behind  it,  suddenly  acquiring  energy  ?  Can  he  com- 
prehend eternity  of  space  or  time  ?  Has  the  Uni- 
verse a  limit  or  not  ?  Can  he  conceive  it  illimitable  ? 
If  limitable,  what  is  beyond  ?  He  can  only  remain 
dumb.  He  knows  nothing  ;  even  the  material  baffles 
him. 

It  may  be  permissible  now  to  put  a  few  questions  on 
a  subject  of  which  he  believes  he  possesses  complete 
knowledge.  Why  does  he  accept  the  Darwinian 
theory  ?  It  is  an  idea :  therefore  not  concrete,  there- 
fore unprovable.  This,  however,  is  Mr.  Elliot's  method 
of  accounting  for  the  diverse  forms  of  plant  and  animal 
life  upon  the  earth's  surface.  He  has  never  seen 
"  natural  selection  "  produce  a  new  species,  and  yet  he 
accepts  this  purely  abstract  theory — this  idea — as 
the  explanation  without  any  demonstration — without 
mechanistic  proof.  And  this  natural  philosopher  at 
the  same  time  chooses  to  refuse  to  accept  the  ideas  of 
the  most  cultured  and  elevated  minds  of  the  world, 
such  as  Carlyle's,  to  whom  Huxley  stated  he  owed 
everything  in  the  sphere  of  the  intellect ;  he  refuses 
to  accept  the  movements  of  human  thought.  We  ask  : 
What  are  the  things  which  are  seen — the  temporal — 
compared  to  those  which  are  not  seen — the  eternal — to 
the  best  thoughts  of  the  best  minds — to  the  ideals  which 
mould  mankind  and  alter  the  face  of  history  ?  And 
yet  Mr.  Elliot  cannot  get  along  without  ideas  any  more 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     195 

than  Bergson  ;  the  fight  between  them  is  only  a  wordy 
warfare,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  mechanists 
carry  off  the  palm.  And  why  ?  Because  a  man  of 
science  must  take  cognisance  of  all  the  phenomena  of 
Nature,  and  Mr.  Elliot  cannot  get  away  from  the  things 
he  can  see,  and  taste,  and  feel ;  the  law  of  the  auto- 
maton is  final.  Why  does  he  not  extend  his  range  of 
vision  to  those  things  which  move  humanity,  to  the 
methods  by  which  men  are  trying  to  alter  the  face  of 
history  and  make  life  better  for  all  nations  and  peoples 
and  tongues  ? 

We  can  agree  that  modern  science  is  further  advanced 
than  mediaeval  scholasticism,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
it  is  yet  under  the  dominance  of  a  creed  just  as  much  as 
any  of  our  modern  systems  of  theology.  The  present- 
day  creed  of  science  is  the  Darwinian  theory,  and  until 
recently  to  doubt  it  was  proof  of  prejudice  and  ignor- 
ance, for  the  action  of  Natural  Selection  was  as  demon- 
strable as  the  sun  at  noonday.  But  there  always  have 
been  a  few  who  did  not  find  the  evidence  irrefutable,  and 
refused  to  bow  the  knee  ;  among  others,  as  has  been 
shown,  Paulin,  who  was  the  first  to  demonstrate  the  non- 
necessity of  the  operation  of  such  a  law.  And  to-day 
two  acknowledged  observers  and  zoologists  of  the  first 
rank,  Dewar  and  Finn,  in  their  book  "  The  Making  of 
Species,"  adduce  evidence  to  show  the  small  part,  if 
any,  which  natural  selection  plays  in  the  organic  world 
of  Nature.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  mechanistic  phil- 
osophers will  ponder  the  statements  of  these  thinkers 
and  observers,  and  it  is  possible  that  even  they  will 
come  to  doubt  that  we  have  got  so  very  far  from 
mediaeval  scholasticism.  Doubtless  there  is  extended 
vision  of  many  phenomena  and  of  the  natural  laws 
governing  them,  but  we  are  a  long  way  from  finality, 
and  we  have  cause  for  humility  when  we  reflect  that 
the  creed  which  has  held  sway  for  over  half  a  century 


196     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

is  beginning  to  collapse  and  to  cease  to  retain  the 
allegiance  of  men  of  science  themselves.  We  can  only 
hope  for  less  "  cocksureness  "  in  the  future,  and  we  have 
every  reason  to  expect  it,  when  we  recollect  that  some 
of  the  most  intellectual  men  of  science  have  declared 
their  allegiance  to  a  belief  in  the  eternal  and  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul.  Our  mechanists  in  this  instance 
appear  to  be  hit  with  the  recoil  of  their  own  guns  :  they 
demand  that  Bergson  shall  produce  "  time,"  "  con- 
sciousness," "  the  vital  impulse,"  and  when  they  have 
demonstration  of  their  existence  as  gross  material 
facts,  they  will  recognise  them  as  within  the  domain 
of  science  ;  at  the  same  moment  they  assert  their 
absolute  faith  in  the  Darwinian  creed,  discredited  by 
two  of  the  leading  biologists  of  the  day,  and  condemned 
by  the  best  minds  of  our  era. 

So  confident  is  Mr.  Elliot  in  his  mechanistic  theory 
that  he  makes  the  following  statement :  "  The  nebula 
which  preceded  the  solar  system  developed — under  the 
ordinary  laws  of  matter  and  motion — to  the  state  in 
which  we  now  see  it ;  in  such  wise  that  a  physicist, 
who  was  supplied  with  exact  data  concerning  the 
original  distribution  of  matter  and  energy  in  the  nebula, 
and  armed  with  an  all-powerful  mathematic,  could  have 
deduced  the  exact  condition  of  the  Universe  in  any 
required  subsequent  era."  No  doubt  Mr.  Elliot  believes 
this,  as  all  through  the  book  he  supports  with  all  his 
energy  and  powers  the  mechanist  position.  Following 
his  method  of  argument  with  Professor  Bergson,  we 
are  entitled  to  believe  that  the  evolution  of  the 
Universe  and  its  method  are  things  of  which  he 
has  absolutely  no  consciousness,  except  by  means 
of  a  metaphysical  process  such  as  he  scorns  in  people 
who  do  not  think  as  he  does.  Moreover,  neither 
he  nor  anyone  else  can  account  for  the  origin  of 
life  by  physical  processes.  "  Chemical  synthesis  has 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     197 

never  succeeded  in  reconstructing  anything  but  the 
waste  products  of  vital  activity."  Man  has  never  been 
able  to  produce  synthetically  the  diamond  crystal, 
although  he  can  make  something  exactly  similar  in 
chemical  composition  ;  so  with  Life  ;  he  may  combine 
carbon,  oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen  in  any  pro- 
portion he  chooses,  and  expose  the  compound  to  radio- 
active or  any  other  rays,  and  the  result  points  to  only 
one  conclusion — the  law  of  Pasteur — "  omne  vivum 
ex  vivo  " — no  life  without  pre-existing  life.  Therefore 
science  must  account  for  its  origin  on  the  earth  if  we 
are  still  asked  to  accept  the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  for 
the  reason  that  if  life  cannot  be  originated  by  artificial 
means,  and  has  never  been  demonstrated  by  natural 
means,  if  Pasteur's  law  is  true,  and  we  know  it  is,  then, 
by  a  purely  logical  process — by  pure  reason — we  must 
postulate  an  Omnipotent  Power,  who  created  Life  in 
the  form  of  the  unicellular  protoplasmic  unit,  endowed 
with  "  the  primitive  impulse  of  life,"  and  so  designed 
as  to  be  able  to  perpetuate  its  own  form,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  undergo  evolution,  resulting  in  the  pro- 
duction of  a  graduated  scale  of  beings  represented  by 
the  multitudinous  forms  of  plant  and  animal  life  which 
have  existed  and  do  exist  upon  the  earth,  their  struc- 
ture and  form  varying  according  to  the  environment  in 
which  they  find  themselves.  Bergson  has  done  a  great 
deal  to  widen  our  view,  and  he  effectually  demolishes 
the  mechanistic  argument,  but  he  will  never  be  believed 
until  he  adopts  the  logical  outcome  of  his  own  position 
— the  argument  of  design  on  the  part  of  the  Eternal, 
Omnipotent  Power,  and  the  teleological  view  of  the 
Universe,  which  means  an  evolutionary  plan  pointing 
to  the  Final  Goal. 

"  I  smiled  to  think  God's  greatness 
Flowed  around  our  incompleteness, 
Round  our  restlessness,  His  rest." 


198     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

This  is  one  of  the  finest  conceptions  of  the  Eternal, 
which  we  owe  to  that  sweet  singer  Elizabeth  Barrett 
Browning.  Never  has  more  beautiful  expression  been 
given  to  this  sublime  thought. 

Professor  Schafer,  in  his  presidential  address  at  the 
British  Association  meeting  of  last  year,  has  en- 
deavoured to  bridge  the  chasm  between  inorganic 
matter  pure  and  simple  and  organic  living  matter.  He 
revives  the  old  belief — spontaneous  generation — and 
presents  it  in  a  somewhat  new  dress,  and  does  so  in  a 
most  able  and  attractive  manner.  But  it  cannot  be 
said  that  he  has  brought  us  any  nearer  to  a  solution  of 
the  question  of  the  origin  of  life.  No  doubt  he  has 
surprised  scientific  men  generally  by  taking  up  a  posi- 
tion which  can  only  be  described  as  antagonistic  to  the 
axiom  of  Pasteur — than  whom  no  greater  chemist  or 
man  of  science  has  yet  appeared — "  omne  vivum  ex 
vivo."  In  fact,  it  would  appear,  according  to  the  new 
doctrine,  or  rather  the  new  statement  of  an  old 
doctrine,  that  multitudinous  transmutations  have  in 
all  probability  been  going  on — fortuitous  combinations 
of  chemical  atoms — with  the  resultant  protoplasm  full 
of  vital  impulse.  Without  any  demonstration  of  such 
a  process  the  scientific  mind  is  bound  to  put  these 
suggestions  aside — however  striking  and  elaborate  the 
analogies  presented  for  our  consideration — as  mere 
efforts  of  the  imagination.  After  all,  it  is  only  Haeckel 
redivivus.  No  doubt  the  Monistic  theory  is  a  wonder- 
ful conception  and  deserving  every  consideration,  but 
scientific  men  cannot  accept  theories  which  do  not 
rest  on  solid  fact.  It  may  be  asked  :  "  Do  you  then 
positively  deny  that  the  chemist  in  his  laboratory 
may  not  some  day  combine  oxygen,  hydrogen,  carbon, 
nitrogen,  phosphorus,  sodium  chloride,  calcium  salts, 
magnesium,  potassium,  and  iron  in  water,  so  as  to  get 
resultant  living  protoplasm  ?  "  The  only  answer 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     199 

possible  is  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  deny  anything 
concerning  a  matter  of  which  men  are  profoundly 
ignorant,  but  even  at  the  risk  of  being  proved  wrong, 
one  is  justified  from  a  study  of  observed  phenomena 
in  stating  that  it  is  most  unlikely  that  any  such  result 
will  ever  be  obtained. 

When  we  reflect  that  the  experiments  of  Pasteur, 
resulting  in  his  famous  axiom — "  omne  vivum  ex  vivo  " 
— were  those  upon  which  Lord  Lister  founded  the 
present  system  of  surgery,  resulting  in  such  untold 
benefits — in  the  saving  of  pain,  sorrow,  and  death — to 
the  human  race,  we  are  not  likely  to  change  our  attitude 
to  this  established  law,  proved  to  the  hilt  in  our  ex- 
perience from  day  to  day.  The  earth  at  one  time  may 
be  said  to  have  been  an  aseptic  mass  just  as  water  is 
after  sterilisation  by  boiling,  and  there  being  no  source 
of  contamination  we  are  entitled  to  believe  in  the 
light  of  Pasteur's  experiments  that  no  "  primordial 
slime,"  potential  of  life,  by  means  of  a  purely  chemical 
and  physical  change,  ever  appeared.  The  primordial 
slime  was  the  result  of  bacterial  infection.  This  is  the 
teaching  of  science — of  observed  phenomena  as  we 
know  them,  and  beyond  that  we  are  not  entitled  to 
make  assumptions  which  entail  a  departure  from  these. 

In  discussing  Dr.  Charlton  Bastian's  experiments  so 
long  discredited  by  the  Royal  Society,  Professor 
Schafer  remarks  :  "  Nor  should  we  expect  the  spon- 
taneous generation  of  living  substance  of  any  kind  to 
occur  in  a  fluid,  the  organic  constituents  of  which  have 
been  so  altered  by  heat  that  they  can  retain  no  sort  of 
chemical  resemblance  to  the  organic  constituents  of 
living  matter.  If  the  formation  of  life— of  living  sub- 
stance— is  possible  at  the  present  day — for  my  own 
part,  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  it — a  boiled  infusion  of 
organic  matter — and  still  less  of  inorganic  matter — is 
the  last  place  in  which  to  look  for  it."  With  all  due 


2oo     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

respect,  we  hold  that  this  is  burking  the  whole  question. 
It  only  means  that  experimental  demonstration  of  the 
origin  of  life  de  novo — of  spontaneous  generation — is 
impossible.  But  why  cannot  we  boil  a  watery  solution 
or  compound,  containing  all  the  elements  and  salts 
previously  mentioned,  without  so  altering  them  that  it 
becomes  impossible  to  generate  living  organisms  from 
them,  if  such  is  one  of  the  processes  of  nature  ?  More- 
over, all  these  elements  in  watery  solution,  which,  we 
are  told,  in  the  process  of  evolution  brought  life  upon 
the  earth,  had  been  subjected  to  far  greater  heat  than 
that  of  boiling  water,  and  yet  they  combined  fortuit- 
ously under  certain  influences,  radium,  sunlight,  or 
other  unknown  medium,  or  by  a  purely  chemical  and 
physical  transmutation,  and  formed  vital  protoplasm, 
originating  the  lowest  order  of  the  biological  scale  of 
beings — the  Protista,  or  Protozoa.  If  the  only  answer 
to  this  argument  is  that  the  process  was  so  slow,  and 
that  long  periods  of  time  were  required,  then  of  course 
it  is  impossible  for  the  chemist  ever  to  demonstrate  the 
method.  So  that  we  are  exactly  where  we  were  ;  and 
observed  phenomena  compel  us  to  our  original  con- 
clusion of  a  special  creative  "  intervention  in  the  first 
production  of  life." 

He  goes  on  to  suggest  that  the  evolution  of  life  may 
have  occurred  more  than  once,  but  points  out  that  in 
this  case  the  geological  record  would  reveal  more  than 
one  geological  series,  and  he  continues  :  "  Indeed,  had 
the  idea  of  the  possibility  of  a  multiple  evolution  of 
living  substance  been  first  in  the  field,  I  doubt  if  the 
prevalent  belief  regarding  a  single  fortuitous  pro- 
duction of  life  upon  the  globe  would  have  become 
established  among  biologists — so  much  are  we  liable  to 
be  influenced  by  the  impressions  we  receive  in  scientific 
childhood."  It  is  conceived  as  quite  possible  that  the 
evolution  of  non-living  into  living  substance  may  be 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     201 

happening  still.  Quite  so,  and  if  so,  why  not  univer- 
sally ?  Why  may  not  every  fresh  formation  of  "  slime  " 
— that  is,  the  fortuitous  combination  of  the  elements 
which  are  capable  of  transmutation  into  living  proto- 
plasm with  all  the  marvellous  properties  of  biological 
evolution  potential  therein — result  in  what  we  can  only 
call  a  special  new  creative  act  ?  And  is  it  necessary  it 
should  always  take  the  same  form  or  evolute  on  the 
same  plan  ?  What  limits  the  substance  and  the 
forms?  How  is  it  we  have  a  uniform  biological 
scale  or  tree  of  life  ?  As  has  been  well  said  by  the 
Rev.  R.  J.  Campbell :  "  Scientists  were  dealing  with 
phenomena,  but  what  was  at  the  back  of  phenomena  ?  " 
It  is  very  striking  and  not  inappropriate  to  recall  the 
fact  which  has  been  already  dwelt  upon  that  Huxley, 
the  protagonist  of  agnosticism,  acknowledged  this. 
He  refers  to  the  "  passionless  impersonality  of  the 
unknown  and  the  unknowable,  which  science  shows 
everywhere  underlying  the  thin  veil  of  phenomena." 
Mr.  Campbell  continues  :  "  Science  might  tell  us  in  the 
future  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  dead  matter — 
that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was  nothing  but  life. 
But  it  could  not  tell  them  anything  more  about  life." 
Admitting  for  the  moment  that  Professor  Schafer's 
suggestions  are  true,  we  are  no  nearer  the  explanation 
of  the  plan  of  things,  of  the  evolution  of  matter,  of 
energy,  of  life,  of  the  plan  of  a  graduated  scale  of  living 
beings  on  this  earth,  which,  according  to  that  grand  old 
man  of  science,  Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  is  the  only 
sphere  in  the  Universe  where  the  conditions  are  such 
that  man  could  maintain  an  existence.  After  mature 
consideration  of  these  arguments,  as  logical  beings  deal- 
ing with  observedphenomena,  we  are  compelled  toreturn 
to  the  old  belief  of  Design  on  the  part  of  the  Eternal. 

Instinct  is  defined  by  Mr.  Elliot  as  "  appropriate  re- 
action to  certain  stimuli  by  means  of  the  nervous 


202     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

system."  This  is  no  more  true  than  many  of  Bergson's 
statements  which  meet  with  such  strong  disapproval 
on  the  part  of  the  mechanists.  Some  naturalists  would 
deny  that  the  animal  of  widest  range  and  necessarily 
of  longest  existence — the  primary  unicellular  proto- 
plasmic organism  the  Amoeba — had  any  nervous 
system  at  all ;  and  yet  it  has  perpetuated  its  species 
through  all  the  aeons  of  the  past  by  continual  division 
of  its  own  organism.  No  doubt  there  must  be  a 
stimulus,  and  of  necessity  the  action  is  appropriate  as 
the  only  means  of  perpetuating  the  species,  but  there 
is  no  demonstration  of  such  a  stimulus.  Like  the 
Darwinian  theory,  it  is  inferred  ;  such  a  process  of 
thought  is  not  allowed  to  the  metaphysician  ;  he  must 
not  infer  anything  :  he  is  tied  down  to  gross  material 
fact.  This  being  so,  what  right  has  the  mechanist  to 
assume  an  abstract  metaphysical  postulate  of  this 
kind  ?  He  is  hoist  with  his  own  petard.  Again  we  ask, 
Has  the  Amoeba  a  nervous  system  ?  If  not,  how  does 
it  react  ?  Here  is  instinct  which  he  cannot  define,  and 
of  which  Professor  Bergson  certainly  knows  more  than 
the  mechanist,  and  his  theory  of  vital  impulse  as  the 
chief  agent  of  creative  evolution  appeals  directly  to 
man's  reason,  and  particularly  to  his  logical  faculty. 
Descartes  is  quoted  to  the  effect  that  "  animals  were 
mere  machines  or  automata  actuated  solely  by  physical 
and  chemical  forces,  and  devoid  of  any  subjective 
correlate."  "  It  can  never  be  formally  proved  that  he 
was  wrong  "  is  Mr.  Elliot's  comment.  One  would  only 
like  to  ask  for  an  explanation  of  the  case  of  the  dog 
which  dies  on  its  master's  grave,  refusing  food  and 
shelter.  Is  this  explainable  by  purely  physical  and 
chemical  forces,  by  "  the  automaton  theory  "  ?  Is  this 
the  act  of  an  automaton  ?  The  mechanists  know  it 
is  not.  Therefore  we  deny  that  it  cannot  be  proved 
that  Descartes  was  wrong. 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     203 

In  describing  the  "AutomatonTheory,"  he  states  that 
"  man  may  be  denned  as  a  machine  for  converting 
chemical  energy  into  motion  ...  all  actions  of  men 
are  explicable  as  purely  material  and  mechanical 
sequences,  without  invoking  the  assistance  of  mind  or 
consciousness,  or  anything  but  matter  and  energy, 
working  under  their  ordinary  laws.  Consciousness 
appears  as  an  inert  accompaniment  of  material  cerebral 
changes.  This  is  the  theory  to  which  Huxley  gave  the 
name  of  epiphenomenalism."  With  Huxley's  definition 
we  have  no  quarrel :  consciousness  is  something  super- 
added — something  above  phenomena,  and  shows  that 
the  great  scientist's  mind  comprehended  thoughts  as 
not  only  an  inert  accompaniment  of  material  cerebral 
changes.  His  lucidity  of  thought  and  power  of  logical 
insight  taught  him  that  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  and 
the  writings  of  Carlyle  were  beyond  this  material 
origin.  It  will  take  thought  far  beyond  and  infinitely 
greater  than  the  Automaton  Theory  to  explain  the 
power  of  the  imagination. 

We  are  informed  that  "  the  whole  of  science  is  built 
upon  materialism,  as  the  whole  of  chemistry  is  built 
on  the  atomic  theory,  and  the  foundation  is  secure." 
In  reply  we  have  only  to  say  that  pure  materialism  is 
the  negation  of  science.  Stated  categorically,  material- 
ism is  simply  a  refusal  to  recognise  such  an  entity  as 
Thought — the  faculty  of  the  Imagination  ;  not  the 
process  of  ideation  which  the  mechanist  believes  repre- 
sents solely  chemical  change  in  the  nerve  cells  of  the 
brain.  It  is  a  refusal  to  recognise  such  things  as  history 
and  the  ideas  moulding  it  to-day,  such  as  the  evolution 
of  liberty,  altruism,  social  amelioration,  and  the  causes 
of  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires.  These  are  not  gross 
material  facts,  and  must  be  put  aside  as  of  no 
importance,  because  they  necessitate  a  belief  in  the 
spirit  or  soul  of  man,  quite  apart  from  the  physical 


204     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

organism  it  inhabits.  The  present  demands  of  the 
mass  of  the  people  for  a  decent  existence  in  every  sense, 
and  the  altruistic  feelings  of  many  of  the  "  haves  " 
prompting  them  to  surrender  part  of  their  property  and 
privilege  in  order  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of  the  "  have- 
nots,"  do  assign  an  active  role  to  spirit,  whatever  the 
mechanist  may  say.  If  he  refuses  to  recognise  such 
historical  facts,  and  the  method  of  their  origin  and 
evolution,  then  he  is  not  a  man  of  science — he  has 
proved  himself  a  prejudiced  partisan  ;  like  the  Cal- 
vinist  in  heaven,  who  is  not  willing  to  believe  that  there 
are  any  but  Calvinists  there,  he  would  require  special 
accommodation  in  the  form  of  an  enclosed  area,  where 
his  own  sect  and  no  other  can  come  within  the  range 
of  his  vision. 

Bergson's  philosophy  is  most  suggestive,  and  his  style 
full  of  beautiful  phrasing.  Let  us  listen  for  a  brief 
space  to  some  of  the  things  he  says  in  regard  to  Time, 
which  he  believes  to  be  concrete — real.  "  My  mental 
state  as  it  advances  on  the  road  of  time,  is  continually 
swelling  with  the  duration  which  it  accumulates  ;  it 
goes  on  increasing — rolling  upon  itself,  as  a  snow- 
ball in  the  snow."  "  No  staff,  more  resistant  or  sub- 
stantial." "  We  think  with  only  a  small  part  of  our 
past,  but  it  is  with  our  entire  past,  including  the 
original  bent  of  our  soul,  that  we  desire,  will,  and  act." 
"  Thus  our  own  personality  shoots,  grows,  and  ripens 
without  ceasing.  Each  of  its  moments  is  something 
new  added  to  what  was  before.  We  may  go  further  : 
it  is  not  only  something  new,  but  something  unforesee- 
able." "  For  a  conscious  being  to  exist  is  to  change, 
to  change  is  to  mature,  to  mature  is  to  go  on  creating 
one's  self  endlessly."  Apart  from  two  points  of  difference, 
Bergson  carries  us  with  him.  It  seems  unnecessary  to 
postulate  Time  as  a  stuff,  resistant  and  substantial ; 
it  serves  a  purpose,  however,  in  directing  attention  to 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     205 

a  new  aspect  of  regarding  this  entity — Time,  for  Time 
is  an  entity,  just  as  much  as  energy,  but  it  is  not  matter. 
The  other  point  of  difference  is  in  regard  to  the  thought 
that  a  conscious  being  goes  on  creating  one's  self  end- 
lessly ;  if  he  had  said  evolving  endlessly,  he  would  have 
been  in  full  accord  with  his  previous  statement  that  we 
think  with  our  entire  past.  If  that  is  so,  then  our  present 
is  part  of  our  past  and  is  evolved  from  it,  not  created 
afresh.  Bergson  ought  to  have  limited  creative  evolu- 
tion to  the  first  creative  act  of  life,  endowed  with  the 
original  psychical  impetus,  which,  in  a  manner  not  yet 
demonstrated,  was  able  to  evolve  all  the  multitudinous 
forms  now  existing,  their  form  being  the  direct  result 
of  their  environment.  And  to  complete  his  process  of 
thought  he  must  find  refuge  in  the  Eternal,  Omnipotent 
Power,  the  all-wise,  righteous,  Designer  of  the  Uni- 
verse. 

His  ideas  in  regard  to  time  ought  to  assist  the  ethical 
evolution  of  man,  when  he  comes  to  realise  the  truth 
that  we  think  not  only  with  the  present,  but  with  our 
entire  past.  Every  evil  deed  leaves  its  stain,  and  thus 
the  Nemesis  of  all  departure  from  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness ;  every  act  of  self-denial  makes  the  altruism  of 
Jesus  easier  to  follow,  and  thus  are  we  evolving  towards 
the  Ideal  State. 

In  regard  to  memory  he  says  :  "  We  cannot  see  how 
memory  could  settle  within  matter  ;  but  we  do  clearly 
understand  how — according  to  the  profound  saying  of 
a  contemporary  philosopher  (Ravaisson) — materiality 
begets  oblivion."  With  this  we  are  compelled  to  agree- 
ment, but  Bergson  goes  beyond  scientific  observation 
when  he  refuses  to  admit  that  mind  or  memory  has  a 
physical  counterpart,  and  this  no  doubt  arises  from 
want  of  opportunity  of  observing  this  relationship,  so 
evident  in  brain  disease  or  accident.  Without  medical 
training  and  experience  it  is  most  difficult  for  any  man 


206     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

however  gifted  to  deal  with  such  matters,  and  no  other 
profession  gives  such  opportunity  for  the  observation 
of  the  phenomena  of  nature  scientifically  considered. 
Mr.  Elliot  devotes  a  chapter  of  this  work  to  what  he 
calls  "  The  Origin  of  Fallacies,"  and  a  consideration  of 
some  of  his  statements  may  be  of  benefit.  One  of  these 
is  to  the  following  effect  :  "  Whether  a  man  believes  a 
true  theory  or  a  false  one  appears  to  be  a  matter  of 
heredity  as  much  as  anything  else.  He  derives  from 
his  ancestors  his  mental  tendencies  just  as  much  as  the 
shape  of  his  nose.  If  he  lives  in  an  enlightened  period, 
his  tendencies  will  of  course  crystallise  in  a  more 
reasonable  form  than  if  he  had  lived  in  a  period  of 
ignorance."  And  quoting  Lankester  :  "  Man,  on  the 
contrary,  is  born  with  singularly  few  instincts  or  capa- 
bilities of  acting ;  but  instead  of  this,  he  has  enormous 
capabilities  of  being  educated."  Surely,  for  a  logician 
this  fallacy  is  astounding ;  he  mixes  up  heredity  and 
environment  ;  talks  about  a  child  being  born  with  a 
belief,  while  at  the  same  moment  he  admits  it  can  only 
have  been  communicated  by  its  parents  when  possessed 
of  sufficient  intelligence  to  appreciate  it,  and  is  there- 
fore solely  the  result  of  environment.  Talk  of  the 
origin  of  fallacies  ;  they  are  due  to  the  limitation  of  the 
human  intellect  resulting  in  confusion  of  thought,  as  in 
this  instance  when  we  are  told  that  mental  tendencies 
and  the  shape  of  the  nose  are  both  hereditary,  and  in 
the  same  breath  demonstrates  the  cause  of  the  former 
to  be  environmental  only,  and  Lankester  is  actually 
dragged  in  to  prove  it.  The  dogmatism  characteristic 
of  this  and  other  statements  in  this  chapter  calls  to 
mind  the  famous  pronouncement  of  the  late  famous 
Master  of  Balliol,  put  into  his  mouth  by  a  witty  under- 
graduate : 

"  I  am  Principal  of  my  college  :   my  name  is  Jowett ; 
Nothing  is  knowable,  if  I  don't  know  it." 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     207 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  men  of  such  eminence 
in  their  own  sphere  as  Lankester  and  Elliot  can  limit 
their  range  of  vision  to  the  narrow  orbit  of  purely 
mechanical  laws  as  they  affect  matter  and  energy. 
These  constitute  a  very  minute  portion  of  "  science," 
and  it  is  a  pure  travesty  to  expect  intellectual  men  to 
accept  such  a  definition.  In  fact,  as  long  as  the 
mechanists  choose  to  talk  of  evolution,  they  are  ad- 
mitting something,  at  any  rate  biologically,  beyond 
their  grasp,  and  therefore  logically  are  bound  to  reckon 
at  the  same  time  with  the  thoughts  which  move  men 
individually  and  in  the  mass,  which  alter  the  face  of 
history,  and  throw  one  back  upon  the  argument  of 
Design  on  the  part  of  an  Omnipotent  Eternal  Power, 
of  Whom  is  energy,  matter,  life,  evolution,  thought, 
spirit,  truth,  righteousness,  and  love. 

Consciousness  is  not  unknown  to  science.  It  is 
altering  the  trend  of  history  to-day.  The  altruism  of 
Christian  ethics  is  entirely  a  matter  of  consciousness, 
and  upon  it  the  whole  betterment  of  society  depends, 
and  history  proves  that  without  it  there  can  be  no 
permanence,  for  all  civilisations  based  on  the  purely 
material  have  declined  and  fallen  ;  they  must  of  neces- 
sity decay.  Thus  we  see  consciousness  to  be  a 
far  greater  power,  scientifically  considered,  than 
astronomy,  geology,  physics,  chemistry,  or  mathe- 
matics. These  work  by  law,  and  the  laws  which  regu- 
late matter  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  man  upon 
the  earth,  but  the  happiness  of  men,  their  advance  to 
a  higher  order  of  thought  and  outlook,  and  the  con- 
summation of  the  spiritual  evolution  of  the  race, 
depends  upon  consciousness  alone. 

We  have  said  nothing  as  to  the  evolution  of  the  idea  of 
God  among  men,  and  there  is  not  space,  nor  is  it  neces- 
sary that  we  should  deal  with  this  fully  here.  We  know 
the  idea  of  a  Supreme  Power  has  possessed  the  minds 


208     Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society 

of  men  more  or  less  from  the  dawn  of  history.  All  the 
races,  even  the  most  ignorant,  have  a  belief  in  the 
supernatural.  The  earliest  recorded  conception  was 
anthropomorphic  :  "  God  walked  in  the  garden  in  the 
cool  of  the  day."  As  man  progressed  in  intelligence 
God  became  the  Moral  Governor  of  the  Universe.  He 
became  "  the  Eternal  not  ourselves,  who  maketh  for 
righteousness."  With  the  advent  of  Jesus  He  became 
the  "  Father  of  Men,  the  God  of  Love."  Wordsworth 
has  given  beautiful  expression  to  the  idea  of  the  Im- 
manence of  the  Divine  : 

"  I  have  felt 

A  Presence,  that  disturbs  me  with  the  joy 
Of  elevated  thoughts  ;    a  sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused, 
Whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting  suns, 
And  the  round  ocean,  and  the  living  air, 
And  the  blue  sky,  and  in  the  mind  of  man 
A  motion  and  a  spirit  that  impels 
All  thinking  things,  all  objects  of  all  thought, 
And  rolls  through  all  things." 

It  is  only  by  means  of  the  Immanence  of  the  Divine 
that  such  a  conception  as  this  is  possible. 

I  hope  we  may  be  pardoned  if  in  bringing  this  chapter 
to  a  conclusion  we  give  the  lines  of  Matthew  Arnold  to 
his  father,  written  in  Rugby  Chapel,  as  a  great  and 
striking  example  of  the  sweet  influence  of  Christian 
teaching  upon  one  noble  soul,  whose  conception  of  life 
was  duty,  conjoined  with  "  sweet  reasonableness  "  and 
love  of  his  fellow-men  : 

"  If  in  the  paths  of  the  world 
Stones  might  have  wounded  thy  feet ; 
Toil,  dejection,  have  tried 
Thy  spirit — of  that  we  saw 
Nothing — to  us  thou  wert  still 
Cheerful  and  helpful  and  firm. 


Spiritual  Evolution  of  Society     209 

But  thou  wouldst  not  alone 
Be  saved,  my  father,  alone 
Conquer  and  come  to  thy  goal, 
Leaving  the  rest  in  the  wild. 
Therefore  to  thee  it  is  given 
Many  to  save  with  thyself  ; 
And,  at  the  end  of  the  day, 
Oh,  faithful  shepherd,  to  come, 
Bringing  thy  sheep  in  thy  hand." 


Chapter   IX 
The  Ideal  State 

"  I  will  not  cease  from  mental  strife, 

Nor  shall  my  sword  sleep  in  my  hand, 
Till  I  have  built  Jerusalem 

In  England's  green  and  pleasant  land." 

William  Blake. 

r  I  ""HE  subject  of  history  has  never  been  taught 
J[  scientifically  hitherto.  The  child  is  made  to 
acquire  the  names  of  kings  and  queens  and  the  dates  of 
their  accession  and  demise  ;  and  thus  finds  it  to  be  a 
weariness  to  the  flesh  when  the  study  might  have  been 
made  of  absorbing  interest.  It  is  only  in  recent  times 
that  attention  has  been  drawn  to  its  consideration  from 
the  evolutionary  standpoint,  largely  due  to  the  genius 
of  Benjamin  Kidd,  who  has  shed  the  light  by  which 
we  are  enabled  to  observe  the  slow  progress  upwards 
from  the  "  dark  abysm  of  time  "  to  the  advanced  stage 
of  science  and  civilisation  at  the  present  day.  History, 
in  fact,  has  become  a  science,  and  all  the  observed 
phenomena  in  the  evolution  of  humanity  are  considered 
in  relation  to  one  another.  As  Mr.  Kidd  has  so  ably 
remarked :  "  Human  history  can  no  longer  be  regarded 
as  a  bewildering  exception  to  the  reign  of  universal  law 
— a  kind  of  solitary  and  mysterious  island  in  the  Cos- 
mos, given  over  to  strife  and  forces  without  clue  or 
meaning.  Despite  the  complexity  of  the  problems 
encountered  in  history,  we  seem  to  have  everywhere 

210 


The  Ideal  State  211 

presented  to  us  systematic  development,  underlying 
apparent  confusion.  In  all  the  phases  and  incidents  of 
our  social  annals  we  are  apparently  regarding  only 
the  intimately  related  phenomena  of  a  single  vast 
orderly  process  of  evolution." 

We  have  observed  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  ancient 
civilisations  previous  to  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  feature  to  be  noted  is  that  all  these  were  founded 
on  a  purely  military  basis ;  the  whole  organisation  of 
the  State  was  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
present ;  there  was  no  progressive  social  amelioration, 
which  alone  can  give  permanence,  because  it  is  "  broad- 
based  upon  the  people's  will";  there  was  no  looking  into 
the  future  with  the  intention  of  making  things  better 
for  the  race  to  come.  With  the  advent  of  Christianity 
and  the  permeation  of  the  minds  of  men  with  its 
ethical  altruism,  the  whole  trend  of  things  became 
profoundly  altered,  the  State  was  influenced  by  new 
considerations,  "  the  thoughts  of  men  were  widened 
with  the  process  of  the  suns,"  and  most  fortunately  so, 
otherwise  civilisation  could  only  succeed  civilisation, 
each  in  its  turn  to  suffer  inevitable  ruin  and  decay. 
But  under  our  Western  forms  of  government  what  do 
we  behold  ?  We  see  the  State  devoting  its  energies  and 
legislation  to  the  one  end  and  aim  of  improving  the 
condition  of  the  people  within  its  boundaries,  and 
framing  its  measures  so  as  more  and  more  to  grant  not 
only  political  equality,  but  equality  of  opportunity  to 
every  individual.  If  this  were  not  so  there  could  be  no 
stability  :  herein,  alone,  is  permanence.  The  French 
Revolution  proves  this  to  a  demonstration.  That 
violent  and  terrible  outburst  was  produced  by  the 
conditions  which  preceded  it,  and  its  arrival  was  as 
certain  as  the  operation  of  natural  law.  No  doubt  it 
was  "  too  rash,  too  unadvised,  too  sudden,"  but  it  was 
necessary,  and  it  was  a  warning,  and  to  all  time  it  will 


212  The  Ideal  State 

remain  a  sign-post  on  the  steep  road  of  human  en- 
deavour towards  the  higher  evolution  and  the  search 
for  permanence  in  our  Western  civilisation.  For- 
tunately most  of  our  European  States  are  giving  heed 
to  this  warning,  and  are  doing  what  they  can  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  their  people.  Britain  can 
claim,  without  doubt,  to  be  the  most  advanced.  We 
think  it  may  be  asserted  that  the  British  subject  has 
greater  social  advantages  than  that  of  any  other  nation. 
He  has  a  widely  extended  franchise,  and  is  awaiting 
now  its  extension  to  the  only  logical  conclusion — adult 
suffrage,  which  will  mean  as  nearly  as  possible  under 
present-day  conditions  equal  political  opportunity ; 
under  free  trade  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  country 
is  increasing  marvellously,  so  that  there  is  work  for  the 
masses  in  abundance  and  unemployment  is  at  a 
minimum  ;  at  the  same  time  commodities  are  cheap 
and  money  goes  further  than  in  any  other  country. 
Free  education  is  another  great  boon,  and  there  are 
many  more  which  are  too  well  known  to  require 
mention,  such  as  old  age  pensions. 

But  while  this  is  so,  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  la 
misere.  It  seems  to  be  an  increasing  accompaniment 
of  present-day  commerce  and  industry.  Fortunately 
for  the  toiling  millions,  "Labour"  has  begun  to  or- 
ganise, and  has  not  been  slow  to  threaten  serious  conse- 
quences unless  the  appalling  conditions  are  removed, 
and  that  very  soon.  We  think  we  may  say,  without  fear 
of  contradiction,  that  the  time  has  come  when  all  men 
who  have  given  the  subject  patient  consideration,  have 
reached  the  conclusion  that  all  who  "  have  "  must  be 
prepared  to  do  with  less.  Laws  must  be  passed  to  give 
the  masses  a  better  environment,  sanitary  dwellings  in 
pleasant  surroundings  and  pure  air,  the  possibility  of 
a  higher  culture,  which  can  only  be  acquired  by  means 
of  a  certain  amount  of  leisure,  and  it  is  essential  that 


The  Ideal  State  213 

every  responsible  head  of  a  household  shall  have 
secured  to  him,  as  long  as  he  is  willing  to  work,  suffi- 
cient to  meet  all  necessities  and  comforts,  and  in  ill- 
health  this  must  not  be  allowed  to  lapse.  The  much- 
abused  Insurance  Bill  will  help  towards  this  ideal,  but 
without  doubt  it  requires  amendment  in  the  interests 
of  the  workman  ;  no  head  of  a  household,  rejoicing  in 
the  lordly  sum  of  one  pound  per  week,  ought  to  be  asked 
to  pay  the  weekly  tax  ;  it  is  absurd  to  expect  it. 
Shorter  hours  must  be  conceded  in  many  trades  ;  work 
without  the  possibility  of  leisure  is  a  potent  cause  of 
discontent,  and  this,  with  the  possibility  of,  and  induce- 
ment to  acquire,  a  higher  culture,  must  be  granted. 
It  is  evident  that  higher  wages,  improved  conditions, 
and  shorter  hours  must  involve  a  higher  price  for  all 
commodities  ;  in  this  way  the  people  of  "  great  pos- 
sessions "  are  taxed  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  "  have 
not."  This  many  object  to,  but  find  themselves  com- 
pelled to  it  by  means  of  law  and  Government ;  and 
fortunately  there  are  not  a  few  who  rejoice  and  are 
willing  it  should  be  so  under  the  influence  of  Christian 
altruism.  The  former  would  like  to  oppose  this 
tendency  absolutely,  and  use  specious  and  varied  argu- 
ments to  uphold  the  policy  of  stagnation.  The  most 
oft-repeated  has  acquired  almost  the  authority  of  an 
axiom,  and  it  is  that  a  nation  must  never  break  with 
the  tradition  of  the  past.  If  the  Government  were  to 
act  consistently  on  this  principle  it  could  only  result  in 
absolute  stagnation.  The  crux  of  the  position  now  is, 
that  if  we  do  not  break  with  the  tradition  of  the  past, 
in  granting  a  minimum  wage  to  the  heads  of  all  house- 
holds who  are  willing  to  work,  so  as  to  secure  all 
necessary  comforts  for  every  member  of  the  family,  the 
masses,  who  are  in  poverty  and  la  misere,  and  their 
comrades,  living  under  better  conditions,  but  yet  in 
sympathy  with  their  poorer  brethren,  will  break  with 


214  The  Ideal  State 

this  tradition,  and,  as  in  France  a  little  over  a  century 
ago,  we  shall  be  called  upon  to  suffer  the  horrors  of 
revolution.  This  is  by  no  means  an  extravagant 
view.  We  have  pointed  out  already  that  Mr.  Asquith 
by  his  wise  action  and  sane  methods  saved  the 
country  and  the  Crown  from  a  revolution  by  placing 
upon  the  Statute  Book  the  Act  securing  a  minimum 
wage  to  miners,  for  the  reason  that  the  masses  accept 
this  as  an  acknowledgment  by  the  State  of  the  principle 
of  this  concession  to  all,  whether  employed  by  the  State 
or  privately. 

In  order  to  soothe  the  minds  of  all  who  dread  this 
break  with  the  tradition  of  the  past,  we  may  point  out 
that  the  granting  of  this  principle  is  only  a  further 
stage  in  the  evolutionary  process  at  work  in  our  midst, 
and  is  as  certain  to  come  as  that  to-morrow's  sun  shall 
rise.  All  students  of  the  past  who  were  imbued  with 
the  altruism  of  Christianity  knew  that  ere  long  it 
could  not  fail  of  accomplishment,  and  were  able  to 
predict  its  coming  from  the  study  of  observed  pheno- 
mena. The  lesson  of  history  conveys  a  wholesome 
lesson  to  all  classes  of  the  body  politic  at  the  present 
time — to  the  "  haves,"  to  act  as  far  as  possible,  under 
present  conditions,  in  the  spirit  of  the  teachings  of 
Jesus,  to  be  willing  to  sacrifice  some  of  their  possessions 
in  order  to  improve  the  lot  of  those  who  have  none,  but 
who  are  entitled  just  as  much  as  they  are  to  all  neces- 
sary housing,  clothing,  food,  pure  air  and  water, 
perfect  sanitation,  and  a  natural  environment,  with 
leisure  sufficient  to  give  opportunity  for  the  acquisition 
of  the  culture  of  the  ages,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  of  the 
best  thoughts  of  the  best  men,  and  chief  among  these 
the  Founder  of  our  religion  ;  and  to  the  "  have  nots," 
to  be  content  with  the  gradual  social  amelioration  now 
in  progress,  knowing  full  well  that  too  precipitate 
methods,  a  too  sudden  breaking  of  the  tradition  of  the 


The  Ideal  State  2 1  5 

past,  too  complete  a  wreckage  of  "  the  scheme  of  things 
entire,"  as  at  present  constituted,  mean  for  them  only 
disaster  and  the  putting  back  "  the  long  result  of  time  " 
for  many  a  day.  Let  both  sections  of  the  community 
take  warning  from  that  object  lesson — the  French 
Revolution — the  one  to  adopt  fully  and  earnestly  the 
spirit  of  Christian  altruism — "  Love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself  "  ;  the  other  in  the  selfsame  spirit  to  proceed  by 
peaceful  methods,  without  resort  to  violence  or  blood- 
shed, to  the  necessary  attainment  of  their  demands. 
Both  sections  must  accept  the  lesson  of  history,  that  in 
human  society  a  process  of  evolution  is  proceeding 
which  has  resulted  and  must  continue  to  result  in  the 
progressive  betterment  of  human  society,  which  alone 
can  give  permanence  and  has  been  made  possible 
through  the  operation  of  Christian  ethics  consciously 
or  unconsciously  upon  the  minds  of  men  to  whatever 
grade  or  class  they  may  happen  to  belong. 

At  this  stage  it  may  be  useful  to  consider  some  of  the 
theories  of  modern  times,  which  have  held  sway  from 
generation  to  generation  in  regard  to  the  amelioration 
of  society.  Hobbes  and  Locke  enunciated  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Utilitarian  school,  which  were  further 
elaborated  by  Hume,  Bentham,  and  John  Stuart  Mill, 
proclaiming  the  ideal  of  "  the  greatest  happiness  of 
the  greatest  number."  Mill  held  that  "  utility  would 
enjoin  that  laws  and  social  arrangements  should  place 
the  happiness  or  (as  speaking  practically  it  may  be 
called)  the  interests  of  every  individual  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  harmony  with  the  interest  of  the  whole." 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  "  Data  of  Ethics,"  goes 
further  and  sees  a  conciliation  taking  place  between 
the  interest  of  each  citizen  and  the  interests  of  citizens 
at  large,  tending  ever  towards  a  state  in  which  the  two 
become  merged  in  one,  and  in  which  the  feelings 
answering  to  them  respectively  fall  into  complete 


216  The  Ideal  State 

accord,"  and  he  contemplates  a  time  "  in  which  the 
individual  will  have  reached  such  a  stage  of  develop- 
ment that  it  will  afford  him  the  highest  pleasure  to  act 
in  a  manner  conducive  to  the  interests  of  the  social 
organism  even  when  such  conduct  may  appear  antago- 
nistic to  his  own  interests,  and  so,  like  parental  sacrifice, 
lead  the  individual  to  obtain  the  highest  satisfaction 
in  voluntarily  sacrificing  himself  in  the  interests  of  the 
social  organism." 

The  theories  associated  with  these  names  mark 
stages  in  the  evolution  of  thought  in  regard  to  social 
amelioration,  and  they  emphasise  the  influence  of  the 
altruistic  teachings  of  Jesus  upon  the  minds  of  men. 
No  doubt  this  influence  in  its  earlier  manifestations 
has  been  quite  unconscious,  but  we  behold  it,  there, 
silently  exerting  its  power,  and  altering  gradually  the 
whole  aspect  of  human  society.  And  the  names  of 
Hobbes,  Locke,  Hume,  Bentham,  J.  S.  Mill,  and 
Herbert  Spencer  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  and  should 
be  inscribed  in  letters  of  gold  among  the  scroll  of  great 
ones  who  have  made  the  history  of  modern  times. 
"  The  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number  "  was 
a  concept  of  a  high  order,  and  the  further  advance  to 
"  a  stage  of  development  in  which  it  will  afford  the 
individual  the  highest  pleasure  to  act  in  a  manner  con- 
ducive to  the  interests  of  the  social  organism,  even 
when  such  conduct  may  appear  antagonistic  to  his 
own  interests,"  was  a. still  greater.  For  the  first  time 
we  have  an  economic  philosopher  accepting  the  doc- 
trine of  the  necessity  of  self-sacrifice  as  a  supreme  factor 
in  the  evolution  of  human  society.  It  remained  to 
Benjamin  Kidd  to  make  two  discoveries — one,  that 
this  gradual  effort  to  ameliorate  the  conditions  of 
society,  upon  which  alone  the  permanence  of  our 
civilisation  depends,  was  the  direct  result  of  the  in- 
fluence in  men's  minds  of  the  altruism  of  Christianity ; 


The  Ideal  State  217 

and  the  other,  that  this  was  operating  not  only  to 
improve  present-day  conditions,  but  to  secure  "  the 
greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number  of  the 
generations  yet  unborn."  Mr.  Kidd  points  out  that  Sir 
Henry  Maine,  in  "  Ancient  Law  and  Popular  Govern- 
ment," was  influenced  by  the  conviction  that  "  the 
modern  philosophy  of  society  had  not  as  yet  given  us 
the  explanation  of  the  difference  between  the  recently 
developed  and  rapidly  progressive  societies  of  our 
Western  world,  and  that  almost  stationary  social  state 
which  he  perceived  to  have  been  normal  to  the  race 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  its  past.  The  cause  of 
this  difference  Maine  held  to  be  one  of  the  great  secrets 
which  enquiry  has  yet  to  penetrate."  At  last  the 
secret  has  been  fathomed,  and  to  Kidd  the  credit  of  its 
discovery  must  be  accorded.  It  is  entirely  due  to  the 
altruism  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  A  new  agency  has 
been  introduced,  and  the  whole  face  of  history  has  been 
thereby  changed.  This  new  force  has  made  society 
more  and  more  stable  as  time  advanced.  The  members 
of  the  State  feel  the  effects  of  better  conditions  and  of 
the  consideration  constantly  exerted  to  ensure  their 
welfare  ;  the  civilisation  of  which  they  form  a  part 
becomes  an  object  of  interest  and  affection,  and  its 
permanence  is  thus  assured.  In  other  words,  society 
becomes  more  efficient,  and  in  this  way  the  culture  of 
the  ages  tends  more  and  more  to  become  an  environ- 
ment of  the  people.  It  is  through  the  operation  of  such 
a  process  that  we  are  able  to  explain  the  great  and 
rapid  mechanical  evolution  which  has  taken  place  with- 
in the  last  half  century  in  our  modern  civilisation. 
Increased  social  comfort  and  efficiency  has  enabled 
the  men  of  scientific  instinct  in  the  mechanical  world  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  all  the  methods  and  principles 
at  work  in  previous  epochs  and  among  all  peoples,  and 
more  .particularly  the  most  recent  developments  in 


218  The  Ideal  State 

mechanics  and  science.  We  are  all  apt  to  flatter  our- 
selves that  the  extraordinary  evolution  of  the  intellect 
is  the  explanation  of  such  marvels  as  the  steam-engine, 
the  motor-car,  the  power-loom,  the  telegraph,  the  tele- 
phone, wireless  telegraphy,  the  aeroplane,  the  hydro- 
plane, the  modern  warship,  the  perfection  of  surgical 
art  and  science,  but  these  are  one  and  all  only  an 
evolution,  the  most  recent  phase  of  development 
possible  up  to  the  present  time,  but  we  are  as  much 
indebted  to  the  pioneers  as  we  are  to  the  actual 
patentee  of  the  final  instrument.  The  rush  of  these 
wonderful  contrivances  now  has  become  possible 
through  increased  social  efficiency  which  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  conditions  of  life  has  permitted.  These  have 
been  made  possible  only  through  the  growth  of  the 
altruistic  spirit,  resulting  not  only  in  the  display  of 
greater  love  towards  our  neighbour,  but  in  the  desire 
to  remove  all  conditions  inimical  to  the  health,  the 
necessities  and  comforts  of  the  poor  and  miserable.  We 
have  only  to  consider  for  one  moment  the  care  which 
the  State  now  exercises  in  the  interest  of  the  aged  and 
the  child,  and  we  know  this  is  only  a  beginning.  We 
have  already  dwelt  on  the  benefit  of  the  old  age  pension, 
not  only  to  the  aged  poor,  but  all  the  other  members  of 
the  State,  who  are  happier  in  the  knowledge  that  they 
who  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  have 
sufficient  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door  as  long  as  life 
endures,  and  that  to  a  very  limited  extent  they  are 
repaying  a  debt  long  overdue,  and  are  relieved  of  a 
weight  of  subconscious  remorse  which  no  longer 
presses.  We  know  from  this  scientific  study  of  observed 
phenomena  that  it  was  inevitable  such  a  measure 
should  have  been  enacted,  and  many  others,  such  as  the 
Children's  Bill,  and  all  Acts  limiting  hours  in  shops, 
factories,  and  mines,  and  we  are  able  to  prophesy 
without  fear  or  doubt  that  measures  of  greater  and 


The  Ideal  State  219 

greater  efficiency  in  ameliorating  the  ordinary  existence 
of  the  working  classes  will  before  long  be  accomplished. 
This  Mr.  Kidd  has  been  the  first  to  demonstrate  from 
the  scientific  study  of  history,  and  it  is  well  that  we 
should  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  for  this  profound 
discovery,  immeasurable  in  the  range  of  its  influence. 

In  the  discussion  of  this  question  he  endeavours  to 
prove  that  human  evolution  is  not  primarily  intel- 
lectual. In  other  words,  he  means  that  man  in  his 
evolution  from  the  Stone  Age — the  age  of  the  cave- 
dwellers — upwards  has  developed  physically  and  in- 
tellectually to  his  utmost  limits.  It  must  be  evident, 
however,  that  this  only  applies  to  the  individual  who 
has  had  a  fair  opportunity,  who  has  been  brought  up 
in  a  good  environment,  who,  as  a  child,  has  had  every 
necessary  want  supplied  as  far  as  pure  air,  good  food, 
suitable  clothing,  absolute  cleanliness,  and  kindly 
interest  could  secure,  and  at  a  further  stage  every  suit- 
able form  of  athletic  exercise  necessary  to  physical 
development,  and  at  the  same  time  the  culture  of  the 
ages  presented  in  an  attractive  form.  Hitherto  these 
have  been  only  possible  to  the  comparatively  few  ;  but 
we  know  that  very  soon,  under  the  further  evolutionary 
process,  these  will  become  the  environment  of  every 
child  born.  It  may  be  well  to  point  out  that  this  is  not 
only  a  matter  of  simple  justice,  it  is  an  absolute  essen- 
tial of  the  welfare  of  the  State.  The  child  does  not  ask 
to  be  born  ;  it  finds  itself  in  the  world  without  any  say 
in  the  matter  whatever ;  it  has  therefore  every  right 
to  demand  the  best  possible  environment  in  order  to 
ensure  perfect  growth  and  efficiency  of  man  and 
womanhood.  This  the  State  is  at  last  endeavouring 
to  secure.  Every  child  must  have  pure  air,  suitable 
clothing,  good  food,  absolute  cleanliness,  tender  care, 
and  afterwards  the  culture  of  the  ages.  Patriotism 
from  the  purely  selfish  standpoint  demands  this  also  in 


220  The  Ideal  State 

order  to  secure  the  best  possible  physical  development 
of  the  men  who  are  to  man  our  ships  and  defend  our 
shores.  There  is  in  addition  the  altruistic  impulse  to 
procure  the  highest  standard  of  physique  of  the  races 
yet  unborn. 

Taking  this  for  granted,  we  can  go  on  to  consider 
two  aphorisms  which  Mr.  Kidd  presents.  "  It  would 
appear,"  he  says,  "  that  the  process  at  work  in  society 
is  evolving  religious  character  as  a  first  product,  and 
intellectual  capacity  only  so  far  as  it  can  be  associated 
with  this  quality."  With  the  first  part  no  doubt  most 
will  agree,  and  a  fortunate  thing  it  is  for  the  world  that 
it  is  so,  otherwise  no  other  result  is  possible  than  the 
ascendancy  of  the  Nietzscheian  philosophy,  with  the 
revival  of  the  rule  of  the  "  superman,"  which  can  only 
mean  slavery,  the  gospel  of  "Be  hard  " — a  world 
without  kindness  or  sympathy  or  love,  government  by 
the  whip — the  law  of  "  the  weaker  go  to  the  wall,  and 
we  shall  help  them  to  " — the  cessation  of  all  tenderness 
or  self-sacrifice  in  the  hearts  of  men,  which  these  two 
greatest  prophets  of  modern  times  and  two  of  the 
greatest  of  all  time,  Carlyle  and  Ruskin,  have  shown  to 
be  the  most  potent  influence  for  good  in  the  world. 
Either  Nietzsche  or  Karl  Marx  must  rule  ;  in  the  latter 
case  we  shall  be  governed  by  the  Social  Democrat, 
which  would  very  soon  prove  as  chaotic  as  the  other, 
for  the  reason  that  social  stability  can  only  be  attained 
by  means  of  an  all-pervading  content  which  is  only 
procurable  by  willing  self-sacrifice  on  the  part  of  each 
individual  in  the  interest  of  the  State  as  a  whole.  This 
attitude  of  mind,  which  results  in  self-sacrificing  action 
not  only  for  one's  neighbour  and  society  generally,  but 
also  for  the  generations  to  come,  can  only  be  attained 
directly  or  indirectly  through  religious  influence,  and 
the  lesson  of  history  is  that  the  teachings  of  the  Founder 
of  our  religion  alone  are  those  which  have  so  influenced 


The  Ideal  State  221 

mankind  as  to  secure  permanence  in  our  Western 
civilisation.  Without  doubt,  therefore,  we  can  accept 
as  a  scientific  aphorism  founded  upon  observed  pheno- 
mena that  the  process  at  work  in  society  is  evolving 
religious  character  as  a  first  product.  The  latter  part 
may  be  accepted,  but  with  a  certain  amount  of  modi- 
fication. We  have  already  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  further  evolution  of  the  human  intellect  is  not  to  be 
expected,  and  that  the  only  evolutionary  process 
possible  to  humanity  at  this  stage  is  a  spiritual  one. 
But  with  an  improved  condition  socially  we  are  cer- 
tainly entitled  to  hope  that  for  every  man  there  will  be 
greater  leisure  in  which  to  develop  his  intellectual  facul- 
ties to  the  highest  degree  possible  for  him.  Each  man 
will  be  so  affected  by  the  higher  ethical  plane  to  which  he 
has  attained,  that  he  will  feel  it  to  be  his  duty,  not  only 
in  his  own  interest,  but  in  that  of  his  fellow-men,  to 
do  his  fair  share  in  the  particular  sphere  of  action 
allotted  to  him  and  for  which  he  is  best  fitted,  and  to 
devote  his  leisure  to  the  attainment  of  the  best  possible 
intellectual  and  physical  standard,  so  that  he  may  keep 
thoroughly  efficient,  and  thus  resist  those  degenerative 
tendencies  with  which  we  are  threatened  if  we  do  not  live 
our  lives  under  the  dominating  law  of  the  struggle  for 
existence.  Mr.  Kidd  is  quite  entitled  to  urge  that  I 
have  only  proved  his  point,  and  I  am  quite  willing  on 
condition  that  he  agrees  as  to  the  process  by  which  the 
ethical  affects  the  intellectual  development.  The 
general  intellectual  standard  would  undoubtedly  im- 
prove, but  this  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  the  state- 
ment that  the  intellect  is  capable  of  greater  evolution 
than  has  been  evidenced  in  the  time  of  the  great  Greek 
civilisation — of  y£schylus,  Plato,  Socrates,  Sophocles, 
or  of  the  Elizabethan  period,  when  the  master  mind 
not  only  of  his  age,  but  of  all  time — the  immortal 
Shakespeare,  of  whom  his  rival,  Ben  Jonson,  testified  : 


222  The  Ideal  State 

"  I  loved  the  man,  and  do  honour  his  memory  this  side 
idolatry  as  much  as  any" — poured  forth  the  treasures 
of  his  mighty  genius.1 

We  are  quite  justified,  then,  in  accepting  this  first 
aphorism  in  its  entirety,  but  we  fear  there  will  be 
grave  misgivings  as  to  the  second,  and  these  will  affect 
not  the  conclusion  but  the  method.  He  says  :  "  The 
most  distinctive  feature  of  human  evolution  as  a 
whole  is,  that  through  the  operation  of  the  law  of 
Natural  Selection,  the  race  must  continue  to  grow 
ever  more  and  more  religious."  Now,  do  not  think 
it  is  possible  to  arrive  at  any  other  conclusion  from 
a  study  of  observed  phenomena  than  that  "  the  most 
distinctive  feature  of  human  evolution  as  a  whole  is, 
that  the  race  must  continue  to  grow  ever  more  and 
more  religious."  We  do  not  require  to  argue  this 
further  ;  it  has  been  proved  and  firmly  established, 
notwithstanding  all  that  can  be  said  as  to  original 
sin,  the  brute  in  man,  the  wickedness  of  all  kinds 

1  Mr.  Elliot,  in  "  Illusions  from  Professor  Bergson,"  makes  an  in- 
teresting remark  in  regard  to  this  subject.  He  says  :  "  The  Greek 
civilisation  was  merely  a  preface  to  the  intellectual  progress  of 
mankind.  Without  that  clearance  of  the  way,  science  never  could 
have  developed  ;  so  heavy  were  the  obstacles  to  be  removed,  so 
gigantic  the  task,  that  the  greatest  race  of  antiquity  exhausted  their 
powers  in  the  effort,  and  expired  before  its  accomplishment."  This 
statement  is  the  result  of  an  entire  misconception.  A  great  race 
does  not  exhaust  its  powers  by  great  intellectual  effort :  our  great 
men  do  not  do  so.  Shakespeare,  Carlyle,  Scott,  Burns  never  ex- 
haust their  powers  ;  they  become  progressively  feeble  with  advanc- 
ing age  after  crossing  the  meridian  of  life  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
nature.  Men  may  die  prematurely  from  disease,  and  that  is  exactly 
what  happened  to  the  Greek  and  other  great  civilisations  of  the 
past.  They  died  from  disease  of  the  body  politic — the  State  was 
assuredly  "  a  goodly  apple,  rotten  at  the  core."  The  intellectual 
effort  would  have  evolved  the  race  to  the  highest  possible  if  it  had 
been  directed  towards  the  social  betterment  of  ol  iro\\ol,  and 
have  established  it  as  a  permanent  force,  and  led  the  nations  of  the 
earth  to-day  in  all  advance  of  intellect,  art,  drama,  and  ethics  but 
for  the  reason  that  it  appeared  too  soon  to  benefit  by  those  teachings 
which  are  bringing  to  our  civilisation  that  permanence  which  in  no 
other  way  is  possible  of  attainment. 


The  Ideal   State  223 

everywhere  evident  in  our  great  cities,  the  increase 
of  the  so-called  criminal  classes,  and  the  prevalence  of 
drunkenness  and  vice  in  all  sections  of  society.  These 
are  only  imperfections  of  passing  phases  of  evolution, 
which  we  believe  will  be  slowly  eliminated,  and  with 
ever  greater  rapidity  as  the  spiritual  development 
proceeds.  It  is  with  deep  regret  that  one  observes 
the  domination  of  Mr.  Kidd's  mind  by  that  creed  of 
science  rapidly  declining  to  its  fall  under  the  search- 
light of  the  higher  criticism.  Even  the  most  scientific 
of  our  zoologists  have  been  forced  by  the  most  ex- 
tended study  of  observed  phenomena  to  conclude  that 
Natural  Selection  has  never  possessed  and  does  not 
now  wield  the  power  assigned  to  it  by  Darwin.  It  is 
therefore  impossible  not  to  express  surprise  that  Kidd 
should  make  use  of  this  law,  which  was  the  keystone  of 
the  Nietzscheian  arch,  of  the  gospel  of  "  Be  hard,"  of 
"  The  weaker  go  to  the  wall,  and  we  shall  help  them  to," 
to  support  his  own  argument  on  behalf  of  spiritual 
evolution,  made  possible  to  man  through  the  operation 
in  his  mind  of  the  high  ethical  standard  and  self- 
sacrifice  of  the  teachings  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus, 
Who  gave  His  own  life  to  save  mankind,  in  order  that 
they  might  learn  the  "  pathway  to  Reality "  by 
means  of  sacrifice  of  the  self — the  assimilation  of  the 
truth  that  self-abnegation  is  the  only  method  of  self- 
realisation,  and  that  the  "  ideal  is  the  real."  From 
both  points  of  view,  therefore,  we  are  entitled  to  con- 
sider that  Kidd  in  this  instance  has  allowed  his  other- 
wise strong  logical  faculty  to  be  obscured  by  his  devo- 
tion to  the  now  discredited  Darwinian  philosophy, 
and  which  in  this  instance  he  has  dragged  in  to 
explain  a  condition  of  things  to  which  in  its  essence 
it  was  absolutely  opposed.  Therefore  it  will  be  con- 
sidered justifiable  to  alter  this  second  aphorism,  and 
in  such  a  way  as  to  allow  of  it  still  being  acceptable  to 


224  The  Weal  State 

the  author  of  "  Social  Evolution  "  :  "  The  most  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  human  evolution  as  a  whole  is,  that 
through  the  operation  upon  men's  minds  of  the  self- 
denying  ordinances  and  teachings  of  Jesus,  the  race 
must  continue  to  grow  ever  more  and  more  religious." 
If  these  two  aphorisms  are  true — and  as  far  as  the 
human  intellect  is  capable  of  judging  we  are  entitled 
to  believe  so — then  there  is  hope  for  the  world,  and 
its  amelioration  can  be  prophesied  as  a  certainty.  It 
is  therefore  the  duty  of  all  social  reformers  to  look 
forward  and  consider  on  what  lines  the  "  Ideal  State  " 
is  to  be  moulded  and  what  are  the  processes  by  means 
of  which  it  is  to  be  evolved,  attention  being  directed 
mainly  and  persistently  to  the  method  by  which  every 
individual  shall  be  enabled  to  live  that  life  which  shall 
result  in  the  greatest  happiness  of  all  the  members  of 
the  State,  and  at  the  same  time  allow  of  the  highest 
physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  development  to 
him  personally.  This  we  know  can  only  be  attained 
under  a  system  of  religion  which  insists  as  a  prime 
necessity  upon  a  spirit  of  voluntary  self-sacrifice  in 
which  it  will  be  the  highest  pleasure  of  each  to  sacri- 
fice himself  for  the  good  of  the  State  as  a  whole,  and 
of  the  generations  of  men,  which  are  to  people  the 
earth  after  his  own  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world 
are  over,  and  which  can  in  no  material  way  affect  his 
own  personality.  It  has  been  shown  that  this  has 
been  the  power  promoting  the  betterment  of  the 
social  organism  in  our  Western  civilisation  up  to  the 
present  time.  It  has  been  slow ;  it  has  taken  a 
thousand  years  to  accomplish  the  present  stage  of 
development,  but  it  is  always  so — "  the  mills  of  God 
grind  slowly,  but  they  grind  exceeding  small."  The 
lesson  of  history  is  that  social  evolution  gains  momen- 
tum with  the  process  of  the  suns,  and  we  know  that 
recently  it  has  come  like  a  flood,  and  notwithstanding 


The  Ideal  State  225 

its  many  imperfections,  which  after  all  are  only  those 
of  human  nature  and  are  being  gradually  eliminated, 
will  grow  with  ever  greater  power  and  knowledge, 
and  approach  nearer  to  perfection,  so  that  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  not  be  long  before 
the  world  becomes  cognisant  of  the  approach  of  the 
"  Ideal  State,"  which  even  at  this  time  is  looked  upon, 
by  people  of  property  and  great  possessions,  as  im- 
possible. It  is  thus  that  the  study  of  history  reveals 
the  impress  of  the  Eternal  upon  human  affairs.  It 
proves  man  to  be  in  the  grip  of  a  law  which  makes  for 
righteousness  and  self-sacrifice.  Humanity  finds  itself 
moved  on,  impelled  to  action,  contrary  to  the  selfish 
interests  of  the  individual  members,  and  resulting  in 
increasing  welfare  of  the  body  of  the  people.  Tennyson 
asks  in  one  of  his  poems — 

"  We  are  puppets,  Man  in  his  pride,  and  Beauty  fair  in  her 

flower ; 
Do  we  move  ourselves,  or  are  moved  by  an  unseen  hand  at 

a  game 
That  pushes  us  off  from  the  board,  and  others  ever  succeed  ?  " 

The  lesson  of  history  supplies  the  answer.  The  poet 
is  quite  right — we  are  puppets,  and  do  not  move  our- 
selves ;  we  are  moved  by  an  unseen  hand — "  the 
Eternal,  the  not-ourselves,"  the  designation  by  means 
of  which  Matthew  Arnold  put  into  words  the  as  yet 
unconscious  thought  of  the  time,  "  who  maketh  for 
righteousness "  and,  through  the  teaching  and  ex- 
ample of  Jesus,  for  love  and  self-sacrifice.  The 
lesson  of  history  in  this  manner  becomes  the  revelation 
of  the  Eternal,  Who  moves  man  as  He  lists  for  His  own 
purposes,  which  are  full  of  love  to  mankind,  and  are 
evolving  him  spiritually  and  raising  him  "  ever  up- 
ward and  onward  "  to  nobler  deeds  of  self-sacrifice. 
The  Eternal  is  not  only  a  hope,  or  even  a  faith ;  the 
Eternal  is  now  a  fact,  better  and  better  known  from 


226  The  Ideal  State 

day  to  day  by  means  of  the  operation  of  His  laws.  We 
have  a  complete  vindication  of  "  science  "  here,  which 
has  proved  itself  the  friend  of  the  theologian  notwith- 
standing the  scepticism  often  meted  out  to  it.  No 
doubt  the  shortsightedness  of  man,  owing  to  the 
limitation  of  his  intellect,  has  obscured  the  issue  ;  there 
have  been  faults  on  both  sides  in  the  conflict  between 
science  and  theology.  The  apostles  of  both  should 
have  understood  that  the  study  of  observed  phe- 
nomena, embracing  "  all  objects  of  all  thought,  all 
thinking  things,"  could  only  result  in  a  knowledge 
of  "  the  spirit  that  impels  and  rolls  through  all  things." 
We  have  now  reached  this  point — a  knowledge  of  the 
Eternal  is  no  longer  problematic  ;  it  has  become  the 
established  creed  of  science  ;  and  for  mankind  it  is 
fraught  with  the  greatest  issues,  making  certain  the 
dawn  of  better  days  when  righteousness  shall  prevail, 
war  shall  cease,  permanence  be  given  to  society,  and 
peace  and  joy  to  all  men  by  means  of  the  reign  of 
love  and  self-sacrifice  as  the  dominating  principle  of 
existence.  We  can  now  say  with  positive  assurance — 

"  God's  in  His  Heaven ;  all's  right  with  the  world." 

It  is  right  that  a  meed  of  praise  should  be  accorded 
to  all  who  in  the  past  have  fought  the  fight  of  the 
progressive  party  in  the  State.  One  must  express  the 
hope  that  it  will  be  understood  that  this  is  not  a 
political  treatise  ;  it  is  what  it  purports  to  be,  a 
scientific  study  of  observed  phenomena.  It  is  there- 
fore right  that  it  should  be  acknowledged  that  the 
non-progressives  must  not  be  condemned  as  useless 
or  as  a  mere  hindrance  to  the  betterment  of  man's 
social  condition.  In  so  far  as  this  party  has  prevented 
a  too  sudden  break  with  the  tradition  of  the  past,  it 
has  been  of  benefit ;  such  a  break  means  chaos,  out 
of  which  order  can  only  be  slowly  restored  and  the 


The  Ideal  State  227 

work  of  social  amelioration  accomplished.  On  the 
other  hand,  progress  must  not  be  too  long  hindered 
or  delayed,  as  the  inevitable  result  is  social  discontent, 
which,  if  not  pacified,  must  result  in  revolution.  We 
are  not  likely  to  have  such  violent  manifestations 
of  popular  wrath  in  England,  because  the  non-progres- 
sive party  has  always  allowed  the  advance  of  reform 
whenever  it  became  evident  that  the  people  were 
determined  it  should  come,  and  thus  social  discon- 
tent has  never  become  sufficiently  strong  to  result  in 
precipitate  and  revengeful  acts.  But  while  this  is  true, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  names  of  all  who 
have  trod  the  hard,  toilsome  path  and  fought  the 
weary  uphill  fight  on  behalf  of  the  poor,  down- 
trodden, overworked,  underpayed  toiling  millions 
of  men  and  women  are  not  sufficiently  borne  in  our 
memories.  These  names  ought  to  be  the  outstanding 
on  the  banner  of  history. 

The  action  of  such  men  is  all  the  more  noble  in  that 
there  is  little  or  no  acknowledgment  of  their  services  ; 
it  is  only  possible  under  the  stimulus  of  a  great  ideal ; 
the  attainment  of  the  end  is  for  them  sufficient  re- 
ward, and  it  is  good  it  is  so,  for  how  otherwise  could  they 
face  the  lifelong  obloquy  meted  out  to  them  by  their 
own  class  ?  It  would  be  possible  to  give  many  in- 
stances in  which  a  scion  of  the  aristocracy,  from  pure 
conviction,  has  adopted  the  toilsome  path  and  fought 
the  good  fight,  from  pure  conviction,  only  to  find 
that  his  own  caste  have  reviled  and  slandered  his 
reputation  for  no  obvious  reason  beyond  his  desire  to 
alter  the  present-day  condition  of  things  and  thereby 
increase  the  happiness  of  men.  And  hitherto  this 
has  invariably  been  the  case  when  a  man  acts  in 
response  to  the  appeal  of  the  altruistic  ideal,  and 
opposes  the  purely  materialistic  self-interest  of  those 
who  have  "  great  possessions." 


228  The  Ideal  State 

The  workers  of  the  nation  are  too  apt  to  forget  the 
efforts  of  such  men.  In  all  our  schools  their  names 
ought  to  be  taught  as  the  true  makers  of  history. 
The  noble  example  of  such  lives  would  produce  a 
desire  to  emulate  their  endeavours,  and  fresh  impetus 
from  day  to  day  would  be  given  towards  the  realisa- 
tion of  the  "  Ideal  State."  At  present  one  notices 
that  the  Syndicalists,  the  ultra-violent  Socialists,  at- 
tack the  Labour  Members  in  the  House  of  Commons 
because  they  are  not  able  to  secure  a  complete  revolu- 
tion of  industrial  methods  here  and  now.  These  ex- 
tremists never  seem  to  realise  that  change  must  be 
gradual ;  that  the  Government  cannot  break  with  the 
tradition  of  the  past  too  suddenly,  otherwise  they 
run  the  risk  of  "  wrecking  the  scheme  of  things  entire," 
and  thereby  lose  all  opportunity  to  "  re-mould  it 
nearer  to  the  heart's  desire."  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
those  Members  of  Parliament  whom  the  extremists 
contemptuously  name  the  "  Lib-Labs,"  do  far  more 
for  the  general  body  of  the  workers  by  the  pursuance 
of  the  methods  within  their  reach,  which  are  slowly 
ameliorating  the  social  organism.  And  one  is  war- 
ranted in  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Labour 
party  is  actuated  much  more  by  the  spirit  of  altruism 
than  the  Syndicalists.  The  latter,  like  the  Social 
Democrat,  are  actuated  largely  by  the  spirit  of  material- 
ism. "  The  idea  of  the  Syndicalist  was  that  the 
railways  should  belong  to  the  railway  men,  and  the 
mines  to  the  miners.  The  idea  of  the  Socialist,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  that  the  mines,  railways,  and  other 
industries  should  belong  to  the  people.  The  Syndi- 
calist was  merely  working  for  the  transference  of  property 
from  one  private  owner  to  another."  Such  was  the 
opinion  of  a  member  of  the  British  Socialist  party, 
expressed  at  the  Conference  at  Manchester  in  May, 
1912.  And  the  President  of  the  Conference  of  Delegates 


The  Ideal  State  229 

of  the  Independent  Labour  party  at  Merthyr  voiced 
the  same  sentiment.  He  said  :  "  Syndicalism  has  made 
no  real  appeal  to  the  British  workers,  and  offered  them 
no  means  to  escape  from  exactions  of  landlordism  and 
capitalism."  It  is  good  that  the  representatives  of 
the  workers  see  through  the  folly  of  attempting  to 
bring  about  social  betterment  by  the  mere  transfer- 
ence of  property.  Materialism  brought  about  the 
downfall  of  all  our  past  civilisations,  and  as  surely 
it  will  effect  that  of  present-day  industrialism.  As 
Mr.  W.  C.  Anderson  said  at  Merthyr  :  "  Social  justice 
was  the  only  remedy  for  labour  unrest,  and  social 
justice  was  not  compatible  with  private  ownership 
of  land  and  industrial  capital.  What  was  needed 
was  an  industrial  system  that  would  have  a  conscience 
behind  it,,  that  would  not  count  dividends  at  the 
expense  of  human  wreckage  and  degradation.  The 
monopolies  that  had  been  set  up  in  land,  railways, 
canals,  mines,  and  many  other  industries  were  ripe 
for  the  introduction  of  collectivist  principles.  Their 
cause  would  stand  to  gain  in  every  direction  if  they 
could  secure  a  national  minimum  for  all,  a  minimum 
of  health  and  housing,  of  leisure,  education,  and 
wages.  As  years  went  by  their  assurance  of  victory 
was  deepened  not  only  by  labour  unrest  against 
capitalist  tyranny,  but  by  the  growth  of  the  public  con- 
science, by  the  spread  of  Socialism,  by  a  widespread 
desire  to  rescue  nations  from  chaos,  muddle,  and 
disaster,  and  to  rebuild  society  on  the  foundation  of 
organisation,  co-operation,  and  mutual  aid."  Now  it 
is  not  only  interesting,  but  gratifying  to  find  this 
acknowledgment  of  a  growth  of  public  conscience,  and 
a  desire  to  rescue  nations  from  chaos,  and  to  rebuild 
society  on  a  basis  of  mutual  aid.  What  is  this  but  the 
perception  of  Christian  altruism,  of  the  spirit  of  love 
and  self-sacrifice  increasingly  influencing  men  to  think 


230  The  Ideal  State 

less  of  self  and  more  of  others — the  final  completion 
of  this  spirit  being  the  thought  of  self-sacrifice  and 
pleasure  therein  when  directed  towards  the  help  and 
the  welfare  of  others.  This  is  the  Ideal,  which  the 
Eternal  has  ordained  for  men.  "  The  growth  of  the 
public  conscience  ?  "  How  do  we  explain  the  appear- 
ance of  such  a  phenomenon,  for  it  is  so  just  as  much 
as  the  law  of  gravitation  ?  We  can  only  reiterate 
the  lesson  of  history,  that  it  is  due  to  the  operation 
in  men's  minds  of  the  altruism,  the  sweet  reasonable- 
ness, the  love  and  self-sacrifice  inculcated  by  the 
Founder  of  our  religion,  distilling  its  influence  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  establishing  a  public  conscience 
which  becomes  more  potent  from  day  to  day  in 
ameliorating  the  evils  and  abuses  of  commerce  and  in- 
dustry in  so  far  as  the  conditions  of  the  workers  are 
concerned.  But  what  we  want  now  is  public  acknow- 
ledgment, from  the  Labour  party  and  all  organisations 
desiring  to  secure  social  betterment,  of  this  influence, 
and  expression  of  gratitude  to  the  Teacher  of  this 
ethical  principle,  who  has  made  such  things  possible. 
The  world  is  every  day  becoming  "  more  and  more 
religious,"  but  it  is  time  the  Labourists  recognised  the 
necessity  of  proclaiming  their  submission  to  the 
Eternal,  to  the  law  of  righteousness,  in  the  spirit  of 
Him  who  inculcated  love  to  all  men,  rich  and  poor 
alike.  There  must  be  no  desire  of  revenge  ;  indigna- 
tion there  may  be  at  the  many  injustices  of  the  past, 
but  no  gratification  of  the  passion  of  hate  ;  the  social 
betterment  will  be  much  more  rapid  if  it  is  pursued  in 
the  spirit  of  love  to  all  men  irrespective  of  class.  The 
display  of  such  a  spirit  will  hasten  the  movement  more 
than  any  other  method. 

And  this  acknowledgment  of  the  power  of  religion 
is  all  the  more  necessary  now  that  the  enemies  of 
social  evolution  have  pursued  an  active  propaganda. 


The  Ideal  State  231 


They  send  broadcast  pamphlets  to  prove  that  Socialism 
means  revolution.  They  quote  Karl  Marx  to  the 
effect  that  "  violence  must  be  the  lever  of  our  social 
reform."  This  is  quite  sufficient  to  prove  to  any 
student  of  history  that  Karl  Marx  will  not  be  followed. 
Violence  and  revolution  mean  chaos — a  complete  rup- 
ture of  the  tradition  of  the  past,  which  in  Great  Britain 
will  never  be  necessary  and  therefore  will  never  be 
accomplished.  The  Government  is  broad-based  upon 
the  people's  will,  and  thus  neither  of  these  methods  will 
ever  become  necessary  or  be  permitted.  The  sure  and 
safe  social  evolution  of  society  will  go  on  without  any 
sudden  break  with  the  past ;  one  reform  will  evolve 
from  another  until  the  ideal  state  is  realised. 

We  cannot  wonder  at  threats  of  "  stirring  up  dis- 
content, of  force,  of  actual  conflict  "  on  the  part  of 
men  who  know  what  la  misere  means  among  the 
toiling  masses  of  the  great  industrial  centres.  We  can 
sympathise  with  them,  but  we  do  not  believe  these 
will  go  any  further,  owing  to  the  ethical  influence  at 
work  among  all  classes.  The  threats  against  the 
monarchy  are  not  often  heard,  and  are  due  to  the 
same  cause.  Every  part  of  the  governmental  machine 
is  threatened ;  even  the  Liberal  party,  which  has  given 
to  them  most  of  the  benefits  they  now  enjoy,  and  is 
still  devising  fresh  measures  for  their  betterment,  is 
to  be  smashed.  These  are  the  ravings  of  individual 
enthusiasts,  who  have  themselves  endured  la  misere 
and  are  determined  that  it  shall  cease,  but  who  have 
not  yet  learned  the  lesson  of  history. 

Mr.  Hyndman  and  Mr.  Blatchford  are  only  instances 
of  the  limitation  of  the  human  intellect.  They  have 
evidently  joined  Marx  and  Dumont  in  their  intention  to 
destroy  "  1'hypothese  Dieu  !  "  Can  we  forbear  again 
to  cry,  "  Man,  proud  man,  most  ignorant  of  what  he's 
most  assured  !  "  Another  instance  this  of  the  material- 


232  The  Ideal  State 

ism  of  the  world  seizing  the  minds  of  men  and  leading 
them  to  destruction  as  it  did  the  ancient  civilisa- 
tions. Let  the  enemies  of  social  change  rejoice  as  long 
as  their  opponents  refuse  to  recognise  the  law  of  the 
Eternal,  and  self-sacrifice  as  taught  by  Jesus,  because 
history  tells  us  that  only  under  the  influence  of  such 
beliefs  can  man  hope  to  progress  individually  and 
socially.  Mr.  Hyndman  and  Mr.  Blatchford  will  ere  long 
be  recognised  to  be  a  danger  to  their  party,  notwith- 
standing any  ability  they  may  possess.  Why  do  not 
the  members  of  the  Labour  party  in  the  House  of 
Commons  proclaim  there  and  everywhere  their  belief 
in  the  influence  and  power  of  our  religion,  and  chiefly 
—the  altruism  of  Christian  ethics  ?  It  would  be  a  good 
thing  if  this  were  more  generally  understood.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  is  this  spirit  of  altruism  which  gives 
this  party  the  great  power  and  influence  it  possesses 
in  moulding  legislation  at  the  present  time. 

Of  all  men  of  modern  times  who  have  penetrated 
far  into  the  mystery  of  the  Unseen  and  the  Eternal, 
W.  T.  Stead  stands  pre-eminent.  He  never  hesitated  to 
sacrifice  himself  for  the  salvation  of  society,  and  great 
is  the  regret  with  which  we  part  with  his  serene  brave 
soul.  We  are  glad  to  know  that  he  died  as  he  lived, 
like  a  hero,  and  passed  to  the  Eternal  with  the  same 
confidence  that  he  faced  the  world  of  his  own  day. 
And  why  ?  Because  Love  and  self-sacrifice  imbued 
all  his  actions  and  thoughts  as  proceeding  from  the 
Eternal,  from  whom  alone  they  came.  It  may  not  be 
inappropriate  at  this  stage  to  consider  his  message 
"  to  all  English-speaking  folk,"  written  over  twenty 
years  ago,  when  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
"  Review  of  Reviews."  His  desire,  as  he  said,  was  to 
"  mirror  the  best  thought  of  our  time,  done  distinctly 
as  a  religious  principle.  The  revelation  of  the  Divine 
Will  did  not  cease  when  St.  John  wrote  the  last  page  of 


The  Ideal  State  233 

the  Apocalypse,  or  when  Malachi  finished  his  prophecy." 
..."  God  is  not  dumb  that  He  should  speak  no 
more,"  and  we  have  to  seek  for  the  gradual  unfolding 
of  His  message  to  His  creatures  in  the  highest  and 
ripest  thoughts  of  our  time.  Reason  may  be  a  faulty 
instrument,  but  it  is  the  machine  through  which  the 
Divine  thought  enters  the  mind  of  man.  Hence  the 
man  who  can  interpret  the  best  thought  of  his  day  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  render  it  accessible  to  the  general 
intelligence  of  his  age  is  the  true  prophet  of  his  time. 
Like  the  greatest  prophet  of  our  time — Thomas  Carlyle 
— he  recognised  that  the  intellectual  is  essentially  the 
moral,  and  that  the  best  thought  of  any  time  is  of 
necessity  the  Divine  thought  in  so  far  as  it  has  entered 
the  mind  of  the  individual  man,  acknowledged  to  have 
given  fortji  the  best  thought  of  the  epoch  in  which  he 
lives.  "  We  believe  in  God,  in  England,  and  in 
Humanity."  The  English-speaking  race  is  one  of  the 
chief  of  God's  agents  for  executing  coming  improve- 
ments in  the  lot  of  mankind.  He  is  no  Jingo,  although 
to  him  we  owe  the  "  two-keels-to-one  standard  "  of 
naval  supremacy  ;  he  believes  in  England  on  account 
of  her  desire  to  alleviate  human  misery,  and  in  the 
advantage  of  her  guiding  hand  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  and  more  particularly  in  dealing  with  subject 
races,  and  acknowledging  this  as  the  result  of  her  more 
advanced  spiritual  evolution. 

He  quotes  Carlyle  to  the  effect  that  "  the  wise  are 
few,"  and  gives  an  extract  from  this  greatest  of  modern 
prophets,  which  it  will  not  be  inappropriate  to  repro- 
duce now.  Stead  calls  it  Carlyle's  last  political  will  and 
testament  to  the  English  people.  "  There  is  still,  we 
hope,  the  unclassed  aristocracy  by  nature,  not  in- 
considerable in  numbers,  and  supreme  in  faculty,  in 
wisdom,  in  human  talent,  nobleness  and  courage,  who 
derive  their  patent  of  nobility  direct  from  Almighty 


234  The  Ideal  State 

God.  If  indeed  these  fail  us — then,  indeed,  it  is  all 
ended.  National  death  lies  ahead  of  our  once  heroic 
England.  Will  there,  in  short,  prove  to  be  a  recognis- 
able small  nucleus  of  Invisible  Aristoi,  righting  for  the 
good  cause  in  their  various  wisest  ways,  and  never 
ceasing  or  slackening  till  they  die  ?  "  And  Stead 
applies  this  :  "  The  time  has  come  when  men  and 
women  must  work  for  the  salvation  of  the  State  with  as 
much  zeal  and  self-sacrifice  as  they  now  work  for  the 
salvation  of  the  individual.  .  .  .  But  to  save  the 
country  from  the  grasp  of  demons  innumerable,  to 
prevent  this  Empire  or  this  Republic  becoming  an 
incarnate  demon  of  lawless  ambition  and  cruel  love  of 
gold,  how  many  men  and  women  are  willing  to  spend 
even  one  hour,  a  month,  or  a  year.  .  .  .  The  idea  that 
the  State  needs  saving,  that  the  democracy  needs 
educating,  and  that  the  problems  of  government  and  of 
reform  need  careful  and  laborious  study,  is  foreign  to 
the  ideas  of  our  people.  The  religious  side  of  politics 
has  not  yet  entered  the  minds  of  men.  What  is  wanted 
is  a  revival  of  civic  faith,  a  quickening  of  spiritual  life 
in  the  political  atmosphere,  the  inspiring  of  men  and 
women  with  the  conception  of  what  may  be  done 
towards  the  salvation  of  the  world  if  they  will  but 
bring  to  bear  upon  public  affairs  the  same  spirit  of  self- 
sacrificing  labour  that  so  many  thousands  manifest  in 
the  ordinary  drudgery  of  parochial  and  evangelical 
work.  It  may  well  seem  an  impossible  dream.  Can 
these  dry  bones  live  ?  Those  who  ask  that  question 
little  know  the  infinite  possibilities  latent  in  the  heart  of 
man."  Here  we  have  the  germ  of  Kidd's  theory  as  to 
the  process  at  work  in  our  Western  civilisation,  but 
Stead  had  not  fully  fathomed  the  lesson  of  history  and 
the  certainty  of  a  further  evolution  for  humanity  under 
the  stimulus  of  the  altruistic  teachings  of  Jesus.  There 
is  no  doubt  it  was  latent  in  his  mind,  and  it  gives  much 


The  Ideal  State  235 

additional  force  to  our  previous  argument  that  such  a 
man  as  Stead,  with  his  marvellous  knowledge  of  the 
world  of  men  and  things,  should  take  such  a  spiritual 
view.  It  must  be  remembered,  enthusiast  as  he  was, 
that  he  was  no  dreamer  :  he  dealt  with  affairs  as  he 
found  them,  and  by  methods  which  were  practicable. 
And  it  is  very  striking  and  cheering  to  consider  that 
the  man  to  whom  we  owe  the  two-keels-to-one 
standard  of  naval  supremacy  should  be  the  man  who 
cries  for  "  the  quickening  of  spiritual  life  in  the  political 
atmosphere."  And  this  it  is  that  makes  us  eager  to 
know  his  method  :  "  What  we  have  now  to  do  is  to 
energise  and  elevate  the  politics  of  our  time  by  the 
enthusiasm  and  the  system  of  religious  bodies.  Those 
who  say  that  it  is  impossible  to  raise  up  men  and 
women  ready  to  sacrifice  all  that  they  possess  and,  if  need 
be,  to  lay  down  their  lives  in  any  great  cause  that  appeals 
to  their  higher  nature,  should  spare  a  little  time  to 
watch  the  recruiting  of  the  Salvation  Army  for  the 
Indian  Mission  field.  These  missionaries  have  to  face 
certain  disease,  cruel  privations,  and  probably  an  earl}7 
death.  But  they  shrink  not."  How  can  it  be  done  in 
the  political  atmosphere  ?  "  By  the  foolishness  of 
preaching,"  he  answers,  "  we  must  look  for  the  revival 
of  civic  faith  which  will  save  the  English-speaking  race 
— an  active  service  of  men  and  women,  who  will  enlist 
in  self-sacrificing  labour  for  the  young,  the  poor,  and 
the  afflicted.  In  this  lies  our  hope  for  doing  effective 
work  for  the  regeneration  and  salvation  of  mankind." 
He  goes  on  to  say  that  this  involves  a  religious  idea,  and 
many  may  consider  that  when  religion  is  introduced 
harmonious  co-operation  becomes  impossible,  but 
he  declines  to  believe  that  this  will  always  be  so, 
for,  as  he  quotes  from  a  writer  in  the  "  Universal 
Review  "  :  "A  new  catholicity  has  dawned  upon  the 
world.  All  religions  are  now  recognised  as  essentially 


236 


The  Ideal  State 


divine.  They  represent  the  different  angles  at  which 
Man  looks  at  God.  All  have  something  to  teach  us — 
how  to  make  the  common  man  more  like  God.  The 
true  religion  is  that  which  makes  most  men  most  like 
Christ.  And  what  is  this  ideal  which  Christ  translated 
into  a  realised  life  ?  For  practical  purposes  this  :  To 
take  trouble  to  do  good  to  others.  A  simple  formula,  but 
the  rudimentary  and  essential  truth  of  the  whole  Christian 
religion.  To  take  trouble  is  to  sacrifice  time.  All  time 
is  a  portion  of  life.  To  lay  down  one's  life  for  the 
brethren — which  is  sometimes  literally  the  duty  of  the 
citizen  who  is  called  to  die  for  his  fellows — is  the  con- 
stant and  daily  duty  demanded  by  all  the  thousand 
and  one  practical  sacrifices  which  duty  and  affection 
call  upon  us  to  make  for  men."  Here  we  have  the 
secret  of  Jesus — to  take  trouble  to  do  good  to  others. 
And  this  is  operating  increasingly  in  the  thoughts  of 
men,  and  resulting  in  active  alleviation  of  the  burden 
of  misery,  weighing  down  and  pressing  heavily  upon 
poor  long-suffering  humanity. 

We  have  a  striking  illustration  of  the  dawn  of  truth 
simultaneously  upon  separate  minds.  In  science  this 
is  well  known  and  recognised.  Discoveries  in  medicine 
and  mechanics  seem  to  arrive  coincidently.  The 
evolution  of  thought,  gradually  accumulating  through 
the  long  and  weary  process  of  past  ages,  suddenly 
emerges  with  intense  illuminating  force  and  seizes  the 
mind  of  man,  and  as  often  as  not,  quite  independently 
two  or  more  at  one  and  the  same  period.  There  may 
be  diversities  in  the  form  of  expression,  but  the  same 
truth  or  method  of  its  application  is  the  central  idea  of 
the  theory  or  process.  In  this  case  Stead  gave  ex- 
pression to  the  thought  that  religion  was  the  potential 
influence  by  which  men  were  brought  to  deeds  of  self- 
sacrifice,  not  only  for  their  faith,  but  for  the  State. 
Kidd  was  able  to  prove  simultaneously  and  inde- 


The  Ideal  State  237 

pendently  that  Christian  ethics  had  moulded,  in  fact 
profoundly  altered,  the  face  of  history,  and  was  the 
agency  by  which  our  civilisation  had  established  itself 
on  a  permanent  basis.  Stead's  belief  was  the  outcome 
of  a  stern,  strong  faith,  conjoined  with  a  perfervid 
imagination  ;  Kidd's  was  the  outcome  of  the  scientific 
study  of  the  observed  phenomena  of  history.  Truly 
God  fulfils  Himself  in  many  ways.  We  have  here  two 
absolutely  diverse  personalities,  and  yet  at  the  same 
moment  of  time  practically  each  was  able  to  proclaim 
without  fear  of  contradiction  the  spiritual  evolution 
of  humanity  under  the  influence  of  Christianity  as  the 
one  ameliorating  agency  operating  in  society  and  giving 
stability  and  endurance  in  our  civilisation  which  had 
not  been  possible  in  the  past. 

The  gradual  social  amelioration  throughout  Europe, 
and  more  particularly  in  Britain,  has  been  demon- 
strated over  and  over  again,  and  it  would  only  waste 
time  to  repeat  in  detail  what  is  already  known  of  the 
removal  of  serfdom,  the  press-gang,  the  passing  of  the 
first  Reform  Bill,  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws,  the 
gradual  extension  of  the  franchise,  shorter  hours  and 
improved  conditions  of  labour,  especially  as  regards 
women  and  children ;  the  minimum  wage,  the  old  age 
pension,  free  education,  and  the  assertion  of  the 
principle  of  equality  of  political  opportunity. 

Of  all  the  programmes  pushed  forward  at  the  present 
time,  one  would  enter  once  more  a  protest  against 
women's  suffrage,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  a  mere  cry,  is 
totally  unnecessary  and  unscientific,  and  can  only  end 
in  disaster;  its  influence  upon  the  sex  can  only  be  evil, 
and  in  the  process  of  time  its  abrogation  in  the  interests 
of  society  and  the  continuance  of  the  race  would  become 
inevitable  ;  in  all  probability  such  a  measure  would  be 
rescinded  by  the  women  themselves.  Men  have  done  and 
are  doing  much  more  for  women  than  they  themselves 


238 


The  Ideal  State 


can.  They  have  not  the  faculty  of  legislating  just  as 
they  have  not  that  of  soldiering,  sailoring,  engineering, 
policing,  and  a  thousand  and  other  one  things.  The 
cry  about  voting  and  payment  of  rates  being  corollaries 
is  an  absurdity  ;  they  are  not ;  many  men  pay  rates 
who  are  unable  to  exercise  the  franchise  through  being 
abroad  at  election  times,  or  suffering  from  illness  at 
home.  Men  pay  rates  in  return  for  policing  and 
defending  of  person  and  property.  Moreover,  at  this 
stage  a  property  vote  can  never  be  given  to  women : 
it  can  only  be  a  universal  franchise,  and  the 
Labour  party  are  demanding  this  now,  for  the 
very  excellent  reason  in  their  own  interest  that 
it  will  double  the  Socialist  vote,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility double  their  parliamentary  power.  But  no 
measure  ought  to  be  advocated  for  such  a  motive  only  ; 
no  measure  ought  ever  to  be  supported,  however  great 
the  material  advantage  to  any  party,  which  is  not 
sincerely  believed  in  as  of  benefit  to  the  State  as  a 
whole.  Women's  suffrage  is  so  potential  of  danger 
that  no  party  should  light-heartedly  advocate  it. 
Woman's  influence  in  society  is  greater  than  that  of 
man.  By  her  maternal  faculty,  and  the  ethical  teaching 
with  which  she  environs  the  mind  and  thought  of  the 
child,  she  does  far  more  to  raise  the  standard  of  human 
conduct  and  promote  the  spiritual  evolution  moulding 
our  legislation  than  all  the  powers  of  universal  franchise 
could  confer  upon  her.  Her  sphere  is  in  a  higher,  holier 
plane,  but  the  rough-and-tumble  of  the  political  arena 
is  not  for  her.  The  love  of  man  for  woman  and  woman 
for  man  is  a  sacred  thing,  and  ought  to  be  kept  apart 
from  the  contaminating  influence  of  an  effort  foreign 
to  her  nature  and  degenerating  to  her  faculties, 
which  ought  to  be  fostered  so  as  to  be  exercised 
to  the  full  extent  in  the  discharge  of  her  maternal 
duties, 


The  Ideal  State  239 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  many  women  of  un- 
doubted intellectuality  are  opposed  to  this  measure. 
It  is  nevertheless  commonly  stated  by  the  suffragist 
school  that  all  the  strong-minded  women  are  on  their 
side.  This  is  a  bold  statement,  but  not  therefore 
true.  It  is  argued  with  pride  that  nearly  all  women 
doctors  are  in  its  favour ;  but  women  doctors  are  not 
necessarily  either  strong-minded  or  of  great  intellectual 
calibre,  as  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  professionally  they 
have  not  attained  to  the  high  position  at  one  time  pro- 
phesied. Mrs.  Humphry  Ward,  forinstance,  one  of  the 
most  intellectual  women  of  this  generation,  is  the  head 
of  an  organisation  whose  aim  is  to  prevent  the  passage 
of  any  such  measure.  In  the  case  of  such  a  woman  the 
explanation  is  easy  ;  she  has  studied  observed  pheno- 
mena ;  she  knows  the  capabilities  of  the  two  sexes,  and 
she  is  aware  of  the  evil  effect  such  a  measure  would  have 
in  regard  to  woman  from  the  point  of  view  of  sex,  and 
that  of  the  State  as  a  whole.  She  recognises  that  there 
is  a  sphere  for  woman  in  public  life,  in  the  administra- 
tion of  Acts  already  passed  concerning  women  and 
children,  primary  education,  and  to  a  certain  extent 
higher  education,  the  care  of  the  sick,  the  insane  and 
the  feeble-minded ;  conditions  bearing  on  infantile 
mortality  and  epidemic  disease  ;  the  care  of  women  in 
childbirth,  and  the  urgent  moral  questions  that  arise  in 
our  large  towns,  and  in  connection  with  local  administra- 
tion. As  she  says  :  "In  all  these  matters  we  want 
more  good  and  qualified  women  to  help  their  own  sex, 
to  help  children,  to  help  the  nation."  She  urges  that 
women  are  not  only  wanted  in  local  government 
administration,  but  the  education  of  women  voters  and 
the  wives  of  voters  must  be  fostered  so  as  to  enable 
them  to  take  a  deeper  and  more  active  interest  than 
they  do  now  in  the  affairs  of  their  own  town  and  dis- 
trict. The  Local  Government  Committee  will  specially 


240  The  Ideal  State 

endeavour  to  reach  women  voters  and  show  them  what 
is  now  in  their  power  quite  apart  from  any  extension  of 
the  franchise.  The  Committee  will  support  qualified 
women  candidates  of  anti-suffrage  opinions  who, 
speaking  generally,  are  accepted  by  the  recognised 
municipal  or  local  associations  ;  and,  if  necessary,  will 
contribute  to  the  election  expenses  of  such  candidates. 
Whether  for  the  county  and  borough  councils,  the 
rural  and  urban  district  councils,  or  the  boards  of 
guardians,  the  Committee  is  ready  to  give  help  as  far 
as  it  can. 

As  Mrs.  Ward  points  out  in  a  letter  to  "  The  Times," 
the  prejudice  against  women  candidates  for  these  local 
bodies  is  unfortunately  great,  owing  largely  to  the 
violent  agitation  of  the  extreme  suffragists,  and  there- 
fore the  Committee  ask  for  anti-suffrage  candidates, 
carefully  selected  by  an  anti-suffrage  committee,  in 
order  to  overcome  this  prejudice.  She  addresses  an 
appeal  to  "  public-spirited  women  who  are  anxious 
to  serve  their  locality  and  their  country,  while  believing 
with  us  that  the  suffrage  agitation  is  in  reality  an  un- 
patriotic agitation,  the  success  of  which  would  weaken 
and  hamper  the  English  State,  to  come  forward  and  co- 
operate with  us.  ...  We  appeal  to  all  those  who 
sympathise  with  this  positive  side  of  the  anti-suffrage 
movement,  who  believe,  not  in  an  identity,  but  in  an 
honourable  division  of  public  functions  between  the 
men  and  women  of  this  nation  to  support  our  com- 
mittee, to  contribute  to  our  funds,  and  help  our  work." 
This  is  the  expression  of  opinion  of  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  cultured  women  in  Britain  at  the  present  day, 
but  who  is  not  puffed  up  with  vain  conceit,  and  is 
thereby  able  to  take  a  sane  view  of  the  relations  of  the 
sexes  and  their  particular  endowments,  especially  in 
regard  to  the  legislative  faculty.  So  fully  does  she 
recognise  this  that  she  has  no  doubt  as  to  the  danger 


The  Ideal  State  241 

to  the  English  nation  from  the  foisting  of  the  parlia- 
mentary suffrage  upon  those  not  only  incapable  of,  but 
totally  unfitted  for  its  exercise.  No  doubt  there  is 
present  to  her  mind  the  danger  to  the  maternal  faculty, 
which  is  a  prime  necessity  of  the  State.  The  attitude 
of  such  a  woman  ought  to  arrest  the  attention  of  all 
thinking  men  and  women.  We  say  "thinking"  ad- 
visedly, because  the  supporters  of  this  unbalanced,  ill- 
thought-out  scheme  for  woman's  emancipation  (so- 
called)  are  not  those  as  a  rule  for  whose  judgment  we 
feel  inclined  to  entertain  much  respect.  We  can  only 
trust  that  all  women  who  have  come  within  the  spell  of 
Mrs.  Humphry  Ward's  literary  work  will  give  heed  to 
her  earnest  and  most  disinterested  warning  upon  this 
very  serious  matter. 

As  we  have  pointed  out,  Mrs.  Ward  has  not  hesitated 
to  designate  this  suffrage  agitation  as  unpatriotic,  and 
so  much  so  that  its  success  would  weaken  and  hamper 
the  English  State.  But  she  has  gone  further  in  that 
she  has  drawn  attention  to  the  "  dark  and  dangerous  " 
side  of  this  movement,  and  Miss  Godden,  in  a  letter  to 
the  "  Times,"  emphasises  this  very  serious  aspect  of 
the  question.  An  examination  of  the  sixpenny  books 
and  pamphlets  to  be  purchased  at  "  suffrage  shops  " 
in  the  districts  of  Kensington,  Paddington,  and  Charing 
Cross  Road  proves  the  present  suffrage  movement  to 
be  deeply  involved  in  an  unnatural  and  unseemly  agita- 
tion quite  distinct  from  purely  political  views.  And 
the  statements  in  these  publications  are  not  only  un- 
seemly, they  are  absurd,  untrue,  and  unscientific.  As 
Miss  Godden  points  out :  "  Suffrage  physiology  teaches 
that  '  woman's  organism  is  more  complex,  and  her 
totality  of  function  larger  than  those  of  any  other  thing 
inhabiting  our  earth.  Therefore  her  position  in  the 
scale  of  life  is  the  most  exalted,  the  most  sovereign 
one.'  '  Science  has  abundantly  proved  that  the  male 


242  The  Ideal  State 

element  was  primarily  an  excrescence,  a  superfluity, 
a  waste  product  of  Nature.'  In  sociology  and  ethics 
we  hear  that  '  man-made  social  order  has  its  founda- 
tions laid  in  ruined  souls  and  bodies  ;  that  mono- 
gamous marriage  is  monotonous ;  that  morals  are 
based  as  much  upon  convention  as  principle  ;  that  sex 
war  is  a  necessary  and  desirable  stage  to  sex  peace.' ' 
We  are  assured  that  a  woman  wrote  the  Odyssey  ; 
that  Priscilla  is  accredited  with  the  composition  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ;  that  Adam  was  made  of  dust, 
and  to  dust  shall  return,  but  that  Eve  was  not  ;  that 
"  we  have  even  now  a  new  revelation,  and  the  name  of 
its  Messiah  is  Woman,"  and  "  the  cause  for  which  men 
have  been  torturing  Mrs.  Pankhurst  is  the  same  cause 
for  which  Jesus  Christ  died."  Miss  Godden  concludes  : 
"  A  mental  condition  which  has  been  educated  into 
accepting  these  statements  is  precisely  that  condition 
which  confounds  hammers  with  argument  and  suicide 
with  martyrdom.  ...  It  is  a  condition  bred  and 
fostered  by  the  suffrage  literature  freely  on  sale  at 
suffrage  shops,  and  the  suffrage  teaching  sedulously 
diffused  from  platforms,  in  drawing-rooms,  at  street 
corners.  ...  It  makes  an  immediate  and  public 
dissociation  from  the  promoters  and  disseminators  of 
these  doctrines  incumbent  on  every  man  and  woman 
who  has  at  heart  the  honour  and  sanity  of  English 
womanhood." 

It  is  significant  of  much  that  in  the  weekly  edition 
of  the  "  Times  "  newspaper  containing  the  above,  there 
is  an  article  on  the  increase  of  lunacy,  as  evidenced  by 
the  Sixty-sixth  Report  of  the  Commissioners  in  Lunacy 
to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  which  has  been  issued  as  a 
Blue  book.  We  find  it  there  stated  by  Dr.  Motts  : 
"  In  the  offspring  of  insane  parents,  daughters  are 
much  more  numerous  than  sons,  viz.  in  the  proportion 
of  292  to  208.  These  figures  show  that  the  female  sex 


The  Ideal  State  243 

in  a  stock  is  more  liable  to  become  insane.  .  .  .  Much 
more  striking  is  the  sex  difference  with  regard  to  the 
predominance  of  the  factor  of  mental  stress.  Sudden 
stress  was  thus  recorded  in  thirty-five  males  as  com- 
pared with  sixty-five  females,  a  fact  in  harmony  with 
the  greater  susceptibility  to  emotional  disturbance. 
Prolonged  stress,  of  which  the  recorded  instances  were 
more  than  thrice  as  numerous,  likewise  appears  to  be 
a  more  frequent  precursor  of  insanity  in  females  than 
in  males,  but  not  to  such  a  marked  degree — namely, 
forty-five  males  to  fifty-five  females." 

It  must  be  evident  that  already  in  the  hysteria  of 
their  so-called  literature,  history,  and  science,  we  have 
distinct  suggestions  of  insanity  in  the  movement  and 
ample  warnings  of  the  dangers  of  its  continuity,  and 
more  especially  of  its  success,  which  could  only 
result  in  a  progressively  insane  development,  not 
limited  to  women,  and  which  would  of  necessity 
affect  the  race  as  a  whole,  and  in  time  bring  about 
disaster.  Fortunately  we  know  that  this  awful  cul- 
mination is  not  possible,  in  that  Nature  invariably 
reasserts  herself,  and  must  inevitably  interfere  to  save 
the  race  from  extinction.  As  already  observed,  in  a 
short  time  we  would  find  the  women  demanding,  in 
their  own  interest  and  that  of  their  sons  and  daughters, 
a  return  to  the  old  condition  of  things,  in  which  men 
resumed,  as  their  own  peculiar  function,  the  making 
and  enforcing  of  the  laws  by  which  society  is  regulated, 
and  the  great  maternal  function  of  women  in  the  best 
possible  environment  would  continue  to  act  in  the 
interests  of  society  and  the  well-being  of  the  race. 

Sir  Almroth  Wright  has  already  abundantly  proved 
the  evils  of  political  life  upon  the  feminine  mind  ;  in- 
deed he  has  proved  from  observed  phenomena  that  the 
ferocity  and  instability  of  the  methods  pursued  in  the 
present  agitation  are  the  outcome  of  morbid  tendencies 


244  The  Weal  State 

arising  out  of  social  conditions  which  require  remedy, 
and  which  the  franchise  could  not  alter.  Our  creed 
ought  therefore  to  remain  unchangeable.1 

This  controversy  alone  proves  the  necessity  of  a 
ministry  of  medicine  in  the  Government  to  instruct  and 
guide  the  nation  in  matters  such  as  these,  for  which 
special  study  and  training  is  required  in  order  to  be 
capable  of  sound  judgment  and  necessary  courage  to 
resist  the  cry  of  the  hysteric  and  the  psychopath.  The 
prime  fact  remains  that  the  women  of  the  nation  do 
not  want  the  vote.  The  scolding  of  the  morbid,  discon- 
tented, vain  woman  has  attracted  too  much  attention. 
All  the  more  reason  why  it  must  be  resisted  if  the 
process  of  social  amelioration  is  not  to  be  interrupted 
and  the  spiritual  evolution  of  humanity  delayed. 

There  is  a  deep-seated  reason  for  the  change  in  public 
opinion,  which  at  first  seemed  to  be  carried  away  by 
the  false  arguments  and  system  of  terrorism  which  the 
more  violent  advocates  of  this  revolutionary  move- 
ment adopted.  But  just  in  as  far  as  these  methods 
departed  from  the  "  sweet  reasonableness,"  which  we 
supposed  characterised  the  actions  of  all  good  women, 
they  were  doomed  to  failure — they  violated  the  most 
sacred  obligations  of  womanhood — and  not  only  that, 
they  were  in  direct  antagonism  to  the  altruism  of  our 
religion,  which  has  always  appealed  to  woman  through 
the  innate  self-sacrifice  of  her  maternity.  For  women 
to  violate  in  this  manner  the  code  of  Christian  ethics 
was  a  proof  of  the  morbid  psychology  of  the  whole 
agitation.  It  was  not  long  before  it  was  hoist  with  its 

1  "  Man  for  the  field  and  woman  for  the  hearth  ; 
Man  for  the  sword  and  for  the  needle  she  : 
Man  with  the  head  and  woman  with  the  heart ; 
Man  to  command  and  woman  to  obey  : 
All  else  confusion.  .  .   . 
The  bearing  and  the  training  of  a  child 
Is  woman's  wisdom."          TENNYSON'S  "  Princess." 


The  Ideal  State  245 

petard ;  "  the  whirligig  of  time  brought  in  its  re- 
venges," and  the  clever  women  at  the  head  of  the 
movement  found  the  men  turn  and  rend  them  for  this 
gross  violation  of  their  maternal  instinct  and  the 
modesty  of  nature  ;  and  the  real  mothers  of  the  nation 
were  not  long  in  showing  their  disapproval !  Truly, 
"  these  violent  delights  have  violent  ends  and  in  their 
triumph  die  !  " 

Another  cause  of  the  collapse  of  this  ill-thought-out, 
ill-digested  programme  was  the  fact  that  within  its 
borders  were  two  hostile  camps.  The  movement  began 
with  the  demand  for  the  suffrage  to  women  of  property ; 
before  long  the  Labour  members  were  not  slow  to  dis- 
cover that  Britain  would  never  tolerate  such  a  violation 
of  all  democratic  principle,  and  it  appeared  to  them  a 
good  political  move  to  lend  their  support  as  thereby 
securing  the  suffrage  to  all  women  on  the  same  basis  as 
men  and  in  all  probability  double  their  own  parlia- 
mentary party.  From  the  present-day  political  stand- 
point, the  latter  were  quite  right  to  advocate  a  measure 
which  would  be  likely  to  augment  largely  their  parlia- 
mentary power.  But  this  is  at  best  a  poor  motive,  and 
until  parties  and  Governments  realise  the  advantage 
in  the  long  run  which  accrues  to  those  who  act  solely 
in  conformity  with  Christian  ethics,  they  will  find 
that  such  methods  will  fail  and  recoil  on  their  own 
heads. 

We  want,  moreover,  more  reverence  for  scientific 
opinion  ;  no  body  of  men  in  Parliament  or  outside  of  it 
have  any  right  to  advocate  such  a  breach  with  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  past,  who  have  not  referred  the  matter  to 
the  leaders  of  psychological  science,  who  have  had 
experience  through  the  devotion  of  their  entire  lifetime 
to  its  study,  and  have  observed  the  mentality  of  both 
sexes  over  a  long  period  of  years.  Inexperience  and 
power  are  a  sorry  combination,  and  the  sooner  all  men, 


246 


The  Ideal  State 


however  clever  in  the  ordinary  sense,  learn  that  they  are 
quite  incapable  of  deciding  scientific  matters  not  only 
requiring  training  and  observation  over  long  periods  of 
time,  but  much  accumulated  thought  and  reflection,  the 
better  it  will  be  for  the  people  as  a  whole  ;  otherwise  our 
parliamentary  machine  will  be  relegated  to  the  limbo 
of  effete  institutions.  We  have  dwelt  on  this  matternow, 
because  in  the  Ideal  State  some  system  must  be  devised 
so  that  the  accumulated  experience  and  ripened  judg- 
ment of  men  of  special  .training  and  power  may  not  be 
lost  to  the  State.  Before  long  we  shall  have  a  State 
Medical  Service,  answerable  to  a  Ministry  of  Medicine  as 
one  of  the  chief  offices  of  the  State.  Only  then  will  pre- 
ventive medicine  have  full  play  and  the  general  standard 
of  health  be  raised  to  a  much  higher  level.  Slums  will 
very  soon  be  condemned  and  extirpated,  and  the  life  of 
the  child  in  our  industrial  centres  made  much  happier, 
with  a  resultant  improvement  in  the  physique  of  our 
man  and  womanhood.  As  Mr.  Gladstone  foretold,  it 
cannot  be  long  before  the  medical  man  becomes  the 
prime  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  the  welfare  of  the 
State.  In  the  full  realisation  of  the  Ideal  State,  when 
men  work  not  for  gain,  but  solely  with  the  view  of 
"  taking  pains  to  help  others  "  in  the  knowledge  that 
they  are  benefiting  the  race  at  present  existing  and  the 
generations  yet  to  come,  every  individual  will  be  able  to 
secure  the  ripened  judgment  of  experience  wherever 
required,  whether  in  his  own  interest  or  in  that  of 
public  affairs. 

One  word  may  be  said  here  in  regard  to  the  question 
of  marriage  and  the  present-day  demand  for  a  loosening 
of  its  bonds  in  the  direction  of  making  divorce  or 
separation  easier.  It  would  certainly  seem  from  the 
point  of  view  of  common  sense  that  where  an  unhappy 
union  tended  to  wear  out  the  life,  or  destroy  the  useful- 
ness of  either  partner,  that  it  would  be  better  that 


The  Ideal  State  247 

greater  opportunity  should  be  allowed  for  its  dis- 
solution. No  doubt  society  will  gradually  devise  a 
better  way  than  exists  at  the  present  time,  when  every 
incentive  impels  towards  the  formation  of  an  irregular 
alliance,  which,  once  admitted,  opens  the  way  to  a  ready 
means  of  securing  the  desired  separation.  Every  safe- 
guard must  be  taken  against  divorce  becoming  too  easy 
of  accomplishment.  The  altruism  of  Christianity,  as  it 
continues  to  influence  humanity  progressively,  will 
undoubtedly  create  a  caste  of  thought  and  mutual 
consideration  which,  as  time  goes  on,  will  make  part- 
ners in  the  marriage  contract  more  tolerant  towards 
each  other  and  cause  them  to  vie  in  seeking  each  the 
other's  good  physically,  intellectually,  and  ethically. 
In  the  present  transition  period,  however,  the  law 
requires  some  amendment,  which  must  be  made  to 
apply  equally  over  the  United  Kingdom. 

The  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  women  could  only 
result  in  chaos  as  far  as  the  marriage  bond  is  concerned, 
for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the  diversity  of 
opinion,  which  would  arise  in  a  large  number  of  cases 
in  regard  to  public  affairs,  could  only  result  in  anger, 
animosity,  and  hatred.  One  may  have  a  private  friend 
with  whom  one  differs  politically,  but  this  is  somewhat 
uncommon,  and  certainly  implies  a  spirit  of  mutual 
forbearance  not  at  all  usual ;  political  agreement  to- 
day is  almost  a  necessity  of  private  friendship  in  the 
vast  majority  of  instances.  In  any  case,  one  is  not 
forced  to  live  in  constant  companionship  with  this 
private  friend,  but  this  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  the  marriage 
contract.  Secondly,  the  exciting  and  disturbing  effect 
of  the  political  arena  upon  the  emotional  nervous 
temperament  of  the  woman  would  either  upset  her 
mental  balance  or  disturb  her  physically  and  psychic- 
ally in  such  a  manner  as  to  unfit  her  totally  for  the 
function  of  maternity,  so  necessary  to  the  race,  to  the 


248 


The  Ideal  State 


joy  of  home  life,  and  to  the  well-being  and  happiness 
of  woman  herself. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  at  this  stage  to  devote 
a  little  time  to  the  study  of  our  legal  system.  No  doubt 
on  the  whole  at  the  present  time  justice  is  secured, 
although  the  system  is  by  no  means  perfect.  Our 
judges  endeavour  honestly  to  administer  the  law,  but 
yet  miscarriages  do  occur,  and  it  is  not  always  possible 
for  our  Lord  Justices  to  free  their  minds  from  prejudice 
they  may  have  acquired  through  an  environment  of 
wealth  and  luxury.  And  therefore  we  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that  in  the  Ideal  State  where  wealth  shall  have 
no  sway,  and  the  judge  no  salary  beyond  the  reward 
of  dispensing  justice  wisely  and  well,  and  thereby  in- 
creasing the  sum  of  human  happiness,  we  look  forward 
to  a  time  when  all  men  shall  be  so  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  that  judgment  seats  will 
be  as  vacant  as  our  prisons. 

This  being  admitted,  we  are  now  free  to  consider  the 
methods  of  legal  administration.  We  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that  it  is  devised  not  in  the  interests  of  the 
body  of  the  people,  but  entirely  in  order  to  fill  the 
pockets  of  the  members  of  the  Bar.  The  Bar,  and  not 
the  Bench,  controls  the  great  legal  instrument.  Being  a 
Scotsman,  I  know  more  of  the  Scots  procedure  than  the 
English,  and  therefore  I  shall  presume  that  an  action  has 
been  raised  against  me  in  the  Scots  courts.  I  am  a  poor 
man ;  my  total  capital  is  two  thousand  pounds.  A 
rich  man  raises  an  action  against  me  for  fifteen  hundred. 
Now  it  may  seem  an  absurd  thing  to  say,  but  it  is  abso- 
lutely true,  the  best  thing  that  can  possibly  happen  as 
far  as  I  am  concerned  is  that  I  should  lose  my  case,  pay 
the  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  and  a  further  sum  to  the 
lawyers,  which  no  doubt  makes  a  large  inroad  on  what 
remains,  and  start  the  world  afresh  with  the  pittance 
remaining.  And  why  is  this  so  ?  Because  in  all  proba- 


The  Ideal  State  249 

bility  what  will  happen  will  be,  that  if  I  win  my  case 
before  the  Lord  Ordinary  of  the  Court  of  Session,  my 
rich  opponent  will  pursue  the  case  before  the  Outer 
Division  of  the  Court.  Suppose  I  win  again  :  he 
appeals  to  the  Inner  Division.  I  win  again.  He  ap- 
peals to  the  House  of  Lords,  where  for  various  reasons 
Scots  decisions  seem  to  be  more  often  overturned  than 
confirmed.  As  the  result  of  this  appeal,  I  lose  my  case ; 
at  last,  finding  the  decision  against  me,  I  am  told  there 
is  no  appeal  for  me.  I,  the  poor  man,  am  ruined,  and 
my  rich  opponent  is  happy,  by  means  of  his  greater 
riches,  in  having  smashed  me,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  I  have  won  in  three  courts  to  his  one.  It  must  be 
evident  that  there  is  neither  sense  nor  justice  in  such 
methods.  There  is  only  gain  to  the  members  of  the 
Bar,  at  the  expense  of  every  innate  principle  of  right 
and  common  sense.  The  feeling  is  increasing  that 
money  is  the  only  essential  to  winning  a  case  in  the  long 
run,  and  is  almost  certain  to  win  if  the  opponent  is 
a  poor  man. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  common  sense,  and  keeping 
in  mind  the  hypothetical  case  just  given,  let  us  consider 
what  the  law  is — it  is  a  series  of  Acts  of  Parliament  in 
conformity  with  which  men  and  bodies  of  men  must  act, 
as  subjects  of  the  realm.  The  Lord  Justices  or  Senators 
of  the  College  of  Justice  are  appointed  on  account  of 
their  wide  knowledge  of  these  Acts.  That  being  so,  we 
hold  that  one  judgment  should  suffice  and  no  appeal  be 
allowed.  The  appeal  is  always  made  in  the  hope  of  a 
different  view  being  taken  by  another  judge  as  to  the 
meaning  or  purport  of  the  Act  involved.  Our  senators 
are  not  slow  to  uphold  the  diverse  views  of  members  of 
the  medical  profession  in  matters  of  expert  opinion  to 
ridicule.  They  always  appear  to  me  to  be  quite 
oblivious  of  the  fact  that  if  it  were  not  for  such  diverse 
views  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  in  regard  to  the 


250  The  Ideal  State 

interpretation  of  Acts  of  Parliament,  there  would  not 
be  half  the  number  of  judges  required  of  those  who  now 
adorn  our  seats  of  judgment.  They  forget  also  that 
medicine  can  never  be  an  exact  science,  on  account  of 
the  differences  existing  between  all  members  of  the 
species,  so  much  so  that  no  doctor  can  be  sure  of  the 
effect  of  any  one  drug  until  he  has  administered  it  in 
each  particular  individual.  In  the  case  we  have  men- 
tioned three  verdicts  in  his  favour  were  no  good  to  the 
poor  man  ;  had  he  lost  in  the  first  instance  before  the 
Lord  Ordinary  he  could  not  have  appealed,  because  he 
had  no  money  to  enable  him  to  do  so  with  safety.  This 
is  where  wealth  is  given  an  undue  weight  in  matters  of 
so-called  justice.  Before  long  we  hope  that  the  legal 
instrument  will  become  part  of  the  Civil  Service,  and 
thus  the  poor  will  be  efficiently  protected  from  the 
onslaught  of  the  rich,  and  the  rich  will  find  that 
justice  is  above  their  gilded  sway. 

To  pursue  the  argument,  the  judge  is  paid  a  large 
salary,  so  that  the  legal  expenses  are  apart  from  this 
altogether.  The  main  item  in  all  legal  expenses  is  the 
payment  of  the  barrister's  fees,  whose  charges  vary  from 
five  to  a  hundred  guineas  per  day,  according  to  experi- 
ence and  reputation.  Here  again  is  another  cause  of 
injustice  ;  the  rich  man  buys  up,  in  legal  phraseology, 
"  retains  "  the  ablest  advocate  on  any  given  question 
by  huge  payments.with  the  idea  largely  of  preventing  his 
opponent  getting  the  benefit  of  such  help  and  advice. 
We  begin  now  to  understand  why  the  Law  allows  cases 
to  be  appealed  again  and  again.  It  is  solely  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  Bar,  who  require  large  incomes  on  account 
of  their  social  position,  and  for  the  reason  that  later 
on,  when  Lord  Justiceships  and  titles  come  to  them, 
they  may  be  able  to  take  their  place  with  that  of  the 
landed  aristocracy.  We  have  seen  that  this  power  of 
appeal  is  bad  from  the  people's  standpoint,  and  there- 


The  Ideal  State  251 

fore  we  believe,  ere  long,  we  shall  find  a  reform  of  our 
legal  system  demanded  by  the  Liberal  party,  notwith- 
standing the  overwhelming  preponderance  of  legal 
members  in  Parliament.  The  law  must  be  systematised 
and  decisions  by  our  senators  made  final,  whether  in 
favour  of  rich  or  poor  ;  and  the  legal  instrument  must 
become  part  of  our  civil  service.  Indiscriminate  legal 
action  will  not  be  allowed  ;  it  will  not  be  possible  ;  all 
will  be  regulated  as  other  departments  of  State  are  at 
the  present  time,  with  one  certain  result — a  gradual  and 
increasing  diminution  of  actions  at  law,  and  conse- 
quently of  legal  officials,  and  thereby  no  small  saving 
to  the  coffers  of  the  State. 

We  have  now  reached  a  point  in  this  discussion  in 
which  it  becomes  necessary  to  consider  the  lines  upon 
which  further  development  must  proceed.  We  have 
found  that  much  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  social 
evolution  under  the  influence  of  Christian  ethics,  and 
we  have  indicated  certain  reforms  requiring  immediate 
attention,  such  as  a  State  medical  service  with  a 
ministry  of  medicine,  the  drastic  alteration  of  our  legal 
system,  which  must  become  part  of  the  ordinary  Civil 
Service,  a  universal  minimum  wage,  the  nationalisation 
of  land,  mines,  and  railways,  and  reform  of  the  poor 
law  on  the  lines  of  the  Minority  Report.  On  further 
examination  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  all  the 
evils  of  our  system  in  methods  of  government  are 
financial ;  it  is  as  true  to-day  as  when  first  uttered, 
that  "  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  It  will 
therefore  be  found  that  on  investigation  of  such  things 
as  poverty,  unhappiness,  or  injustice,  in  every  instance 
"  greed  "  or  "  Mammon  "  is  the  fount  and  origin  of 
the  misery.  La  misere  depends  solely  upon  the  desire 
for  huge  dividends,  and  we  have  already  referred  to 
Huxley's  dictum  that  if  this  were  to  remain  a  char- 
acteristic of  our  advancing  commerce  and  civilisation 


2  $2  The  Ideal  State 

he  would  hail  the  advent  of  some  friendly  comet  to 
sweep  it  all  away  into  nothingness.  Huxley  was  a 
great  man,  and  as  honest  as  the  day,  but  he 
was  no  Socialist,  no  idealist,  as  we  understand  the 
word,  yet  even  he,  through  the  evidence  of  observed 
phenomena,  was  forced  to  come  to  this  conclusion. 
That  being  so,  la  misere  being  of  such  awful  horror  as 
to  call  forth  this  cry  from  one  not  professing  a  belief  in 
the  dogma  of  the  Christian  religion,  although  doubtless 
influenced  by  its  altruism,  it  behoves  all  who  profess 
to  follow  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament — and 
what  is  religion  if  it  is  not  conduct — to  endeavour  to 
bring  about  by  every  possible  means  the  annihilation 
of  the  system  which  produces  such  widespread  misery 
and  vice  and  crime  among  the  masses  of  the  people. 
Matthew  Arnold  asks  in  one  of  his  books — What  is 
religion  ?  And  the  answer  is  supplied — "  Religion  is 
conduct,  and  conduct  is  three-fourths  of  life."  If  then 
we  profess  the  teachings  of  Jesus  as  the  guide  of  our  life, 
and  go  to  church  Sunday  after  Sunday  to  hear  again 
these  wondrous  messages  of  love  and  self-sacrifice,  and 
yet  in  daily  conduct  traverse  every  one  of  these,  what 
are  we  ?  "  Woe  unto  ye,  hypocrites  and  Pharisees.  Ye 
honour  Me  with  your  lips,  but  your  hearts  are  far  from 
Me."  If  then  we  are  imbued  with  the  altruism  of 
Christian  ethics,  one  of  the  first  reforms  which  Parlia- 
ment ought  to  be  asked  to  effect  is  the  prevention  by 
law  of  the  payment  by  any  company  to  its  shareholders 
of  high  percentages  procurable  only  by  sweated  pro- 
cesses for  the  reason  given  above,  that  la  misere  was 
the  result  of  the  striving  on  the  part  of  our  managing 
directors  to  pay  big  dividends.  If  this  were  enacted, 
and  a  wage  sufficient  for  all  wants  secured  to  every 
householder,  and  a  limitation  of  the  hours  of  labour  so 
that  no  such  thing  as  overwork  would  be  possible,  then 
the  sweating  system  would  automatically  cease.  It 


The  Ideal  State  253 

ought  to  have  been  ended  long  ago,  but  the  powers  of 
Mammon  were  too  powerful ;  but  at  last  the  trumpet 
has  sounded,  and  the  walls  of  Jericho  are  about  to  fall. 
Poor  suffering  humanity  has  had  long  to  wait  for  this 
simple  act  of  justice,  but  at  last  the  clouds  are  breaking, 
and  the  sun  of  Christian  love  and  self-sacrifice  shall 
shine  forth  in  its  full  effulgence  to  enlighten  and  warm 
the  world  with  its  cheering  rays. 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  "  English  Review  "  Mr. 
H.  W.  Hobart,  "  still  struggling  at  fifty-eight  years  of 
age  for  a  bare  subsistence  in  the  industrial  army,  having 
started  as  a  breadwinner  at  nine,"  gives  some  "  Revela- 
tions of  Industrial  Life."  This  article  ought  to  be 
circulated  widely  ;  it  is  so  obviously  true,  and  would 
do  much  to  bring  home  to  the  well-to-do  the  folly  of 
attempting  to  continue  society  as  at  present  consti- 
tuted. We  can  quite  well  remember  the  days  when  the 
clergy  were  in  the  habit  of  rebuking  the  working  classes 
for  discontent,  and  enforcing  the  duty  of  thanking  God 
for  their  manifold  blessings.  Now  our  ministers  of 
religion  are  deserving  of  honour  and  gratitude  in  so  far 
as  they  endeavour  to  carry  out  the  teachings  of  their 
Master,  but  in  regard  to  this  matter  they  act  in  entire 
opposition  to  His  message  in  many  instances.  One  has 
only  to  read  this  article  in  order  to  appreciate  the  fact 
that  it  is  quite  impossible  for  the  members  of  the  great 
industrial  army  to  pay  much,  if  any,  regard  to  Christian 
ethics  as  long  as  they  are  compelled  to  suffer  at  the 
hands  of  professing  followers  of  Jesus  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  the  latter  are  determined  before  they 
die  to  accumulate  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds, 
become  great  landowners,  and  advance  their  position 
in  aristocratic  society.  And  the  methods  by  which 
professing  Christians  attain  to  wealth  are  often  such 
as  to  proclaim  the  ideal  of  our  religion  as  hypocritical 
cant  of  the  first  order,  or  even  worse,  as  of  fraudulent 


254  The  Weal  State 

intent  to  deceive,  a  cloak  to  entrap  the  unwary.  It 
ought  to  be  insisted  on  that  if  the  profession  of  religion 
is  not  accompanied  by  complete  evidence  of  conduct 
as  far  as  possible  consonant  with  the  altruism  of  Chris- 
tianity it  should  meet  with  no  attention  or  regard.  If 
religion  is  not  conduct,  it  is  only  a  mask,  a  hollow 
mockery.  And  for  anyone  professing  the  religion  of 
Jesus  to  attempt  to  amass  gold  by  means  which 
can  only  bring  about  the  degradation  of  his  fellow- 
men  physically,  intellectually,  and  morally,  is  a  self- 
evident  contradiction  of  such  belief.  One  wonders 
that  the  apparent  contradiction  has  not  become  so 
manifest  that  the  hypocrisy  of  the  whole  situation,  not 
to  mention  the  shame  of  it,  would  have  forced  other 
methods  in  order  to  satisfy  the  prickings  of  conscience. 
But  no  !  the  lust  of  gold  appeals  with  such  force  to  the 
natural  man  that  it  is  only  by  Divine  agency  that 
a  revolution  is  being  slowly  wrought  in  human 
society  by  the  power  of  religion  and  gradual  diffusion 
of  the  altruistic  spirit.  The  greatest  wonder  of  the 
world  is  now  in  operation,  and  is  only  dawning 
upon  the  blind  intelligence  of  mankind  ;  and  that  is  the 
very  gradual  overcoming  and  final  conquest  of  the 
strongest  passion  of  the  natural  man — the  love  of 
money — by  the  still  small  voice  of  conscience — the 
God  in  man — guided  by  "  the  sweet  reasonableness," 
the  love,  and  self-sacrifice  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus. 
Surely  this  is  the  greatest  of  all  miracles  !  "I  have 
overcome  the  world  !  "  He  told  His  brethren  while  here 
on  earth,  and  only  now,  two  thousand  years  thereafter, 
do  we  begin  to  realise  the  truth  of  these  words.  By 
dying  on  the  cross,  and  showing  forth  the  only  way — 
the  path  of  self-sacrifice — the  Pathway  to  Reality — 
in  other  words,  by  dying  that  we  might  live,  He  became 
indeed  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  And  it  is  the  only 
way  if  we  are  ever  to  know  happiness,  for  who  can  be 


The  Ideal  State  255 

happy  as  long  as  he  or  she  realises  that  their  own  com- 
fort and  luxury  depend  on  the  unhappiness  of  their 
fellow-men — their  brothers  and  sisters? 

This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  a  common  delu- 
sion of  the  middle  and  upper  classes — the  fetish  of 
"  family."  The  sooner  it  is  demolished  the  better  for 
humanity.  The  sooner  it  is  realised  as  an  axiom,  the 
better  for  everyone,  and  chiefly  by  those  afflicted  with 
the  delusion  that  "  there  is  no  such  things  as '  family.'  " 
This  soul-destroying  doctrine  has  led  to  more  foolish 
pride  and  selfishness  on  the  one  hand,  and  snobbery 
and  deceit  on  the  other,  than  any  of  our  absurd  pre- 
judices. The  sad  thing  socially  is  that  no  sooner  do 
people  rise  from  the  industrial  army  into  the  moneyed 
classes  than  they  at  once  begin  to  lie  about  their 
ancestors  in  the  most  barefaced  manner,  and  of  neces- 
sity this  entails  the  shunning  of  their  poorer  ac- 
quaintances and  the  neglect  even  of  near  relatives. 
"  Family  "  has  come  to  mean  "  money  "  ;  "  nouveaux 
riches  "  may  be  whispered  by  the  aristocrat  about 
some  parvenu  and  his  relatives  who  have  pushed  their 
way  into  the  higher  ranks  by  the  power  of  their 
millions,  but  it  does  not  last  long.  The  man  of  so- 
called  "  ancient  lineage  "  is  soon  bowing  the  knee  to 
the  trader  or  speculator  whose  wealth  surpasses  his 
own.  Is  it  not  strange  that  men  take  so  long  to  appre- 
ciate the  truth  of  observed  phenomena,  that  luxury 
operates  so  adversely  on  humanity  that  in  a  few 
generations  it  must  result  in  decadence  ?  and  hence  our 
aristocrats  constantly  require  renewal  from  the  masses, 
who  can  generate  a  stock  capable  of  virile  power  and 
endeavour  and  maintenance  of  the  standard  of  physical 
well-being.  So  that,  scientifically  considered,  it  is  the 
lower  orders  who  should  be  classed  as  "  good  family," 
seeing  it  is  upon  them  we  depend  for  the  force  and 
vigour  of  the  race.  It  is  not  their  fault  that  they  cannot 


256 


The  Ideal  State 


secure  the  accumulated  culture  of  the  ages  as  a  con- 
stant environment.  Were  it  so,  we  would  soon  see 
universally  that  atmosphere  of  "  gentle  breeding," 
which  a  constant  environment  of  culture  has  made 
possible  to  people  of  wealth,  and  leisure,  and  refinement, 
and  which  has  thrown  a  charm  and  a  glamour  over 
many  of  the  privileged  members  of  our  aristocracy. 
One  cannot  help  recalling  Tennyson's  lines  : 

"  Howe'er  it  be, 
It  seems  to  me 
'Tis  only  noble  to  be  good  ; 
Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets, 
And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood." 

This  beautiful  and  pregnant  truth  has  been  quoted 
repeatedly  as  a  pious  opinion,  but  never  believed  or 
acted  upon.  To  deal  with  it  from  the  scientific  stand- 
point, Norman  blood  is  no  doubt  the  possession  of 
many  who  are  poor  and  needy,  but  in  their  case  it  is 
unrecognised  ;  it  is  devoid  of  merit  and  unworthy  of 
acknowledgment.  Further,  the  inbreeding  required  to 
preserve  the  pure  strain  of  Norman  blood  results  in 
degeneracy  :  this  is  not  only  the  rule  in  man,  but  in  all 
species  of  the  vertebrates.  New  blood  is  constantly 
required  to  keep  the  breed  strong  and  healthy. 

In  regard  to  this  matter  we  have  an  amusing  illus- 
tration of  the  illogicality  of  human  nature.  The  people 
who  believe  most  in  their  ancestry  as  a  rule  belong  to 
the  orthodox  religion,  and  profess  an  entire  faith  in  our 
common  descent  from  Adam  and  Eve.  That  being  so, 
it  follows  that  every  member  of  the  "  genus  homo 
sapiens  "  can  claim  equal  lineage  and  long  descent  with 
any  other.  In  fact,  every  one  of  the  toiling  millions  can 
claim  to  belong  to  as  "  old  family  "  as  that  of  the  most 
aristocratic  peer.  Moreover,  any  particular  strain  of 
Norman  or  Celtic  or  any  other  is  very  soon  swamped 
by  the  potent  influence  of  marriage.  The  result  is  the 


The  Ideal  State  257 

average  type,  with  special  characteristics  which  depend 
solely  upon  environmental  influences,  and  the  lesson 
from  this  study  of  observed  phenomena  is  to  improve 
the  environment  all  round,  and  we  shall  soon  have 
universally  gentler  manners  and  what  is  called  good 
breeding  and  that  air  of  refinement  which  a  knowledge 
of  literature  and  art  tends  to  convey.  There  is  not 
much  doubt  that  this  fetish  is  tottering  to  its  fall :  the 
majority  of  the  people  do  not  regard  it,  and  think  of  it 
only  as  one  of  those  stupid  superstitions  which  held 
sway  among  men  until  the  enlightenment  of  Christian 
ethics  dissipated  the  mist  which  obscured  their  vision, 
and  demonstrated  the  native  equality  of  man,  when 
robbed  of  those  artificial  distinctions  which  are  as 
useless  as  they  are  false. 

The  process  of  racial  development  going  on  in 
America  at  the  present  day  is  most  interesting,  and 
bears  upon  this  point.  Emigrants  from  Europe  are 
being  poured  into  that  continent  as  into  a  huge  mortar, 
and  as  a  consequence  we  have  a  mixture  there  of  all 
the  nations  represented  in  our  Western  civilisation. 
And  what  is  the  result  ?  A  race  possessed  of  intense 
virility  and  energy,  with  a  capacity  for  work  which  is 
unrivalled.  This  proves  the  benefit  from  the  union  of 
different  strains  in  the  white  races  at  any  rate,  and 
shows  that  we  are  more  likely  to  get  a  strong,  virile, 
energetic  race  from  this  intermixture  than  we  can  get 
on  the  average  from  any  one  of  the  individual  strains. 
Further,  what  do  ethnologists  tell  us  ?  That  a  type  is 
being  developed  from  this  intermixture  which  from 
generation  to  generation  is  becoming  more  and  more 
like  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  country — the  Red 
Indian.  If  true,  what  can  this  mean  ?  It  can  mean 
nothing  else  than  that  the  environment  of  this  huge 
continent,  with  its  illimitable  plains,  mountains,  rivers, 
and  forests,  is  evolving  a  type  similar  to  that  of  the 


The  Ideal  State 

aborigines,  who  occupied  the  country  long  before  this 
intermixture  of  races,  who  represent  the  flower  of  our 
Western  civilisation,  set  foot  upon  its  soil.  This  inter- 
mixture has  brought  with  it  the  culture  of  the  ages  and 
the  altruistic  spirit,  and  the  result  is  the  continued 
betterment  of  society  and  a  nation  in  the  very 
acme  of  civilisation  and  refinement.  But  yet  the 
type  of  feature  and  form  is  approximating  more  and 
more  to  that  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitant,  demonstrat- 
ing once  again  the  power  of  environmental  influences. 
And  yet  we  continue  to  uphold  the  superstition  of 
family  and  heredity  ! 

After  this  digression  we  must  return  to  Mr.  Hobart's 
article,  and  we  will  begin  with  its  conclusion  :  "  All 
through  life  the  trials  and  troubles  of  the  industrial 
community  are  incessant ;  there  is  no  rest ;  no  re- 
laxation :  scarcely  a  pause,  but  like  the  ever-rolling 
sea,  just  a  brief  calm,  to  be  followed  by  a  fierce  storm 
of  the  bitterest  severity."  This  is  a  strong  indictment, 
and  one  which  must  be  remedied  if  we  are  to  maintain 
any  consistency  whatsoever  in  our  profession  of  the 
Christian  religion.  As  in  days  of  old,  it  can  be  said  of 
us  to-day  :  "  Ye  honour  Me  with  your  lips,  but  your 
hearts  are  far  from  Me."  Mr.  Hobart  points  out  that 
the  child  of  the  working-man  is  handicapped  from  birth. 
It  has  neither  proper  food,  suitable  clothing,  cleanli- 
ness, tender  care,  nor  pure  air — all  absolutely  necessary. 
Indeed  everything  seems  to  be  done  to  hamper  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  child  by  a  bad  en- 
vironment. Mr.  Harold  Begbie,  in  his  graphic  de- 
scriptions of  London  slum  life,  has  made  us  well  aware 
of  the  terrible  environment  as  far  as  morals  are  con- 
cerned. We  seem  positively  to  do  everything  to  en- 
courage the  growth  of  disease,  vice,  and  crime, and  there- 
after in  sanctimonious  fashion  talk  superiorly  of  the  sad 
and  deplorable  growth  of  criminality  amongst  the  lower 


The  Ideal  State  259 

orders  !  When  shall  we  learn  wisdom  ?  Can  anyone 
honestly  argue  that  we  are  bound  to  maintain  laws 
which  enable  a  few  individuals  to  draw  exorbitant 
rents  from  land  and  housing  if  we  thereby  create 
misery,  insanitation,  poverty,  drunkenness,  vice,  and 
crime  in  increasing  degree  among  the  masses  of  our 
citizens  ?  Most  certainly  not.  Property  has  been 
conserved  too  long  to  the  detriment  of  humanity  ;  and 
we  believe  to-day  that  no  law  can  endure  which  acts 
prejudicially  to  the  physical  and  moral  welfare  of  the 
individual  man.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  gross  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  righteousness  ;  in  the  second  place, 
the  laws  at  present  established  have  been  made  by 
man  and  can  be  repealed  or  amended  whenever  in  his 
wisdom  he  thinks  fit.  That  being  so,  we  demand 
alteration  in  land  and  property  laws,  which  violate  the 
health  and  happiness  of  the  people,  and  are  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  altruistic  principles  at  present 
operating  in  human  society.  Such  reforms  will  be 
stigmatised  as  confiscation  and  robbery.  This  we  can 
pass  unheeded  ;  the  robbery  has  been  all  from  the 
poor  man  hitherto,  and  that  must  cease  ;  the  rich  man 
has  more  than  he  requires,  and  will  not  suffer  through 
curtailment  of  unnecessary  wealth  or  luxury,  which  are 
only  a  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of  his  own  ethical 
development.  Moreover,  in  many  ways  such  reforms 
would  benefit  the  plutocrat.  His  class  are  ever  crying 
over  the  decadence  of  the  race  and  the  decline  in 
stamina  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  who,  after  all,  are 
the  only  real  defence  against  the  confiscation  of  their 
property.  Once  our  soldiers  and  sailors  are  defeated 
by  a  foreign  foe  the  rich  man  will  soon  discover  that  his 
property  is  either  confiscated  or  that  it  yields  a  very 
small  return  comparatively.  That  being  so,  if  his  eyes 
were  not  blinded  by  pure  selfishness  and  greed,  he 
would  see  by  the  light  of  reason  that  it  was  his  business, 


260  The  Ideal  State 

if  not  his  duty,  to  secure  the  best  possible  environment 
for  the  children  of  the  workers,  so  as  to  rear  strong 
virile  men  to  man  the  ships  and  defend  the  shores.  As 
he  cannot  see  it,  and  will  not,  he  must  be  compelled,  and 
ere  long,  let  us  thank  God,  in  his  interest  and  in  all  our 
interests,  physically,  intellectually,  and  spiritually,  the 
reforms  which  are  necessary  to  this  great  end  shall  be 
accomplished. 

Mr.  Hobart  gives  many  instances  of  the  trials  to 
which  the  workers  are  subjected.  "  Who  is  there 
amongst  the  advanced  democratic  writers  of  to-day 
who  fully  appreciates  the  extent  of  suffering  and  even 
agony  inflicted  in  many  working-class  homes  by  the 
late  arrival  at  its  destination  of  a  workman's  train  ? 
Hot,  tired,  exhausted,  and  fatigued,  they  arrive  at 
their  workshop  one  minute  after  the  gate  is  closed, 
there  to  wait  and  worry  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  an 
hour,  or  a  quarter  of  a  day.  And  what  does  this  mean  ? 
The  loss  of  a  few  paltry  pence  ?  Ah  !  no.  It  means 
perchance  a  long  spell  of  unemployment,  for  some 
employers  are  so  precise  and  attach  so  much  import- 
ance to  punctuality,  that  they  will  discharge  a  man 
immediately  for  being  late  in  the  morning.  It  may 
mean  another  week  of  shoeless  feet  for  one  of  the 
children,  or  the  lack  of  some  necessary  comfort  for 
a  delicate  wife  ...  or  a  further  accumulation  of 
arrears  of  rent,  and  this  in  its  turn  may  mean  the 
hastening  of  the  day  of  the  broker's  man's  visit,  and  of 
eviction  from  the  place  called  '  home.'  Those  who 
talk  glibly  of  the  thousands  of  pounds  lost  in  wages 
through  a  lock-out,  or  strike,  do  not  know  that 
thousands  of  pounds  of  wages  are  lost  every  year 
by  the  workers  through  late  trains,  tramcar  delays, 
cheap  alarm  clocks  that  will  not  '  alarm,'  sleepless 
nights  through  toothache,  baby's  restlessness,  wife's 
illness,  and  scores  of  other  causes,  and  none  of  them 


The  Ideal  State  261 

due  to  any  fault  of  the  workers  themselves,  and  with 
no  balancing  satisfaction  of  a  righteous  endeavour  to 
improve  bad  conditions,  such  as  is  looked  for  in  a  strike. 
The  struggles  of  industrial  life  are  fraught  with  tragedy." 

Truly,  as  Burns  has  said,  "  Man's  inhumanity  to  man 
makes  countless  thousands  mourn."  Is  it  not  dis- 
graceful that  to-day  one  man  is  able  to  inflict  such 
injury  on  his  neighbours  and  is  enabled  to  do  this 
by  the  power  of  the  wealth  created  by  the  industry  of 
the  workman.  It  ought  never  to  be  forgotten  that 
without  the  efforts  of  working-men  there  would  be 
no  possibility  of  the  accumulation  of  great  wealth  by 
any  one  individual,  and  that  to  use  this  wealth  so 
acquired  to  damage  those  who  helped  him  to  obtain 
it  is  an  act  of  the  meanest  description.  The  only  de- 
fence ever  attempted  is,  "  It's  business."  If  so,  it  is 
bad  business,  and  the  methods  pursued  in  our  trade 
and  commerce  call  loudly  for  remedy.  At  present  the 
only  cure  for  evils  such  as  have  been  described  by 
Mr.  Hobart  is  representation  of  the  workers,  with 
powers,  in  the  board  of  management  of  every  business 
concern  which  requires  to  employ  many  hands. 

The  worker  is  of  greater  advantage  to  the  State  in 
many  instances  than  the  employer,  and  it  is  very 
wrong  that  the  State  should  not  protect  the  toiler  who, 
after  all,  must  labour  if  he  is  to  live.  And  yet,  people 
revile  trade  unions.  How  otherwise  could  the  artisan 
have  security  of  work,  or  livelihood,  or  home,  food,  or 
family  ?  What  we  want  is  the  extension  of  the 
principle  of  trade  unionism  to  all  trades,  and  every 
kind  of  worker,  male  or  female,  if  the  cup  of  human 
misery  is  in  any  degree  to  be  lessened.  Methods  of 
compulsion  are  of  necessity  required  at  this  time 
to  restrain  the  evils  due  to  the  tyranny  of  capital  and 
monopoly  ;  but  we  fortunately  can  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  a  further  stage  when  all  men  shall  be 


262  The  Ideal  State 

possessed  of  the  altruistic  spirit  to  such  a  degree  that 
they  will  vie  with  each  other  in  their  endeavours  to 
secure  the  universal  happiness  of  the  race  and  of  the 
generations  to  follow  hereafter.  It  is  evident  that 
this  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  spiritual  evolu- 
tion we  have  demonstrated  to  be  in  process  in  human 
society. 

Mr.  Hobart  proceeds  to  expatiate  on  the  difficulties 
experienced  by  the  working-man  in  his  endeavour  to 
keep  home  and  family  up  to  the  minimum  of  existence 
on  a  pound  a  week  or  less.  He  points  out  that  philan- 
thropists have  divided  and  subdivided  the  workers  into 
sections  according  to  the  different  degrees  of  poverty, 
and  this  is  his  comment  thereupon  :  "  But  they  are 
merely  cold,  lifeless  figures.  They  do  not  convey  to 
the  reader  the  slightest  indication  of  the  mental  tor- 
ture endured  by  loving  parents,  when  they  see  their 
children  gradually  but  surely  becoming  weak  and 
emaciated  for  want  of  wholesome  food  and  home  com- 
forts. .  .  .  We  hear  of  neurasthenia  and  business 
breakdown  among  the  business  men  of  to-day,  as 
being  due  to  the  rush  and  scramble  of  commercialism 
and  the  anxieties  of  city  life.  But  not  a  word  is  said 
about  the  nerve  strain  and  tension  of  the  industrial 
population,  to  keep  pace  with  the  speeding-up  methods 
in  vogue  everywhere.  .  .  .  Look  at  this  position. 
With  a  minimum  wage  of  thirty  shillings  weekly — con- 
sidered too  high  by  our  comfortable  legislators — and 
any  number  of  hours  per  week  from  fifty  upwards,  a 
man  is  expected  to  turn  out  healthy  and  responsible 
citizens  of  a  future  generation.  His  weekly  outlay  is  : 
rent,  73.  ;  travelling  expenses,  2s. ;  clubs  and  in- 
surances, 35.  (for  a  man  must  be  thrifty  and  careful, 
no  matter  what  his  income,  or  he  will  be  dubbed  a 
'  waster ')  ;  his  church  or  mission,  6d.  ;  ...  occa- 
sional gratuities  to  charitable  institutions,  averaging 


The  Ideal  State  263 

6d.  ;  pocket  money  for  children,  2d.  ;  pin  money  for 
the  wife,  od.  ;  for  breakfast  and  dinner  away  from 
home,  35.  ;  total,  i6s.  2d.  This  leaves  135.  lod.  for 
food  for  the  whole  family  for  a  week,  his  own  tea  and 
supper  for  the  week,  and  all  his  meals  on  Sunday ; 
also  boots,  clothes,  fuel,  and  light  and  for  replenishing 
the  home  (for  every  business  man  allows  for  deprecia- 
tion). What  a  travesty  of  life  !  And  close  on  his 
heels,  dogging  his  footsteps  at  every  turn,  follows  the 
nemesis  of  sickness,  short  time,  wet  weather,  increase 
of  family,  and  accidents."  As  regards  the  woman  he 
says  most  truthfully  :  "I  venture  to  say  there  is 
no  comparison  between  the  alleged  anxieties  of 
middle-class  women,  and  the  mental  tortures  per- 
petually endured  by  the  wife  of  the  average  working- 
man.  Their  anxieties  begin  with  their  life  and  end 
with  their  life." 

It  was  very  necessary  to  dwell  at  length  upon  this 
subject  for  the  reason  that  the  belief  is  prevalent  in  the 
middle  and  upper  classes  that  the  workers  have  no 
call  upon  their  purse,  having  no  position  to  maintain  ; 
that  their  wants  are  few  and  that  therefore  livelihood 
presents  no  difficulties  to  them.  The  investigations  of 
Booth  and  Rowntree  led  to  the  discovery  that  nearly 
one-third  of  the  people  was  below  the  poverty  line, 
that  is  to  say,  were  members  of  families  whose  bread- 
winners were  earning  one  pound  per  week  or  less ;  and 
the  appeal  of  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman  to  the 
nation  to  take  steps  to  remove  this  social  sore  of  the 
body  politic,  marked  an  epoch  in  social  evolution. 
Since  then  the  minimum  wage  has  been  granted  in 
one  trade  and  the  principle  is  now  established  in  the 
minds  of  all  thinking  men  imbued  with  the  altruistic 
spirit,  so  that  very  soon  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  to  the  bread-winner  of  every  household, 
man  or  woman,  a  living  minimum  wage  will  be 


264 


The  Ideal  State 


secured.  Think  of  the  gain  in  human  happiness,  the 
peace  of  mind  and  physical  well-being  to  the  toiling 
millions,  and  they  "  who  toil  not,  neither  do  they 
spin,"  will  realise  the  joy  of  those  who  have  helped 
to  lift  the  weight  of  sorrow  and  anguish  from  the 
heavy  burden  of  poor  suffering  humanity. 

Legislation  is  fortunately  proceeding  on  these  lines  ; 
it  is  providing  better  housing,  garden  cities,  destruc- 
tion of  slum  property,  and  is  about  to  reform  the 
land  laws  so  as  to  make  it  easy  for  people  to  have 
ample  room  and  gardens  and  fresh  air.  These  measures 
must  be  secured  if  the  development  of  the  child  is  to 
have  a  fair  start.  Upon  this  we  are  practically  all 
agreed  nowadays.  The  child  is  the  future  citizen  and 
from  both  the  material  and  the  ethical  standpoint  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  State  in  its  own  interests  as  well  as 
in  that  of  future  generations  to  see  to  it  that  every 
possible  means  are  taken  to  give  him  the  healthiest 
environment  possible  ;  and  if  capital  or  property  inter- 
fere with  this  in  any  degree,  they  must  yield  to  the 
paramount  interests  of  the  future  of  the  race.  The 
child  finds  itself  in  the  world  ;  it  has  not  asked  to  be 
born  ;  it  is  not  responsible  for  its  parents,  and  if  they 
neglect  it,  the  State  must  interfere  and  see  to  it  that 
in  the  interests  of  this  entity,  who  has  his  rights  as  a 
member  of  the  human  species,  and  as  a  unit  in  society, 
and  in  the  interest  of  the  State  itself,  the  child  shall 
have  every  necessary  comfort  and  care  in  order  to 
secure  in  the  early  days  its  highest  possible  physical 
development,  and  later  on  the  opportunity  of  a  still 
higher  evolution  by  the  environment  of  every  oppor- 
tunity of  culture  and  refinement. 

We  think  we  hear  the  cry  which  has  always  arisen 
when  reforms  have  been  mooted  :  "  What  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  people  !  Nothing  but  pauperisation  ! 
What  made  the  men  of  the  past  ?  The  struggle  for 


The  Ideal  State  265 

existence,  to  be  sure."  The  independence  of  the 
people  has  been  ever  a  false  cry,  used  as  an  excuse 
for  doing  nothing  and  spending  nothing  to  alleviate 
poverty  and  distress — a  mere  selfish  refusal  to  give 
to  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  race  the  same  healthy 
and  comfortable  environment  which  we  consider 
necessary  to  ourselves.  As  regards  the  struggle  for 
existence  and  the  making  of  men,  I  can  assert  without 
fear  of  contradiction  that  poverty  and  starvation 
never  made  men  or  contributed  to  their  higher  physi- 
cal development.  Poverty  has  slain  millions  of 
healthy  infants  who  would  have  been  a  valuable 
asset  to  the  State,  and  who  had  every  right  to  demand 
healthy  conditions  of  food,  clothing,  and  pure  air. 
This  is  all  so  evident  surely  that  we  do  not  need  to 
pursue  this  aspect  of  the  method  of  social  evolution. 
It  is  in  process  now  and  must  continue  to  advance. 

It  must  now  be  evident  that  if  once  we  have  this 
treatment  of  the  child  physically,  intellectually,  and 
ethically  thoroughly  established,  in  a  generation  at 
most  we  shall  have  to  deal  with  a  class  of  workers  who 
are  contented  and  happy,  who  realise  that  they  are 
cared  for  by  the  State,  and  who  will  do  all  in  their 
power  to  help  the  process  of  social  amelioration  in  all 
classes  of  society.  The  altruistic  feelings  will  operate 
with  vastly  greater  power  and  intensity,  and  the 
spirit  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  will  everywhere  prevail, 
so  that  we  shall  have  reached  a  much  greater  advance 
in  the  betterment  of  the  conditions  of  life  among  the 
people,  with  the  prospect  of  attainment  hitherto  un- 
dreamt of. 

The  spiritual  evolution  of  the  people  has  not  been 
confined  to  any  one  class.  It  has  been  evident  in  its 
operation  in  society  as  a  whole,  but  I  think  we  are 
entitled  to  consider  that  in  the  generation  just  con- 
cluded it  has  been  more  evidenced  among  the  lower 


266  The  Ideal  State 

orders  than  in  those  above  them.  The  growth  and  work 
of  the  Salvation  Army  is  the  most  outstanding  feature 
of  modern  times,  both  ethically  and  socially.  In 
this  organisation  we  find  men  and  women  giving 
their  lives  to  save  others  from  "  sin  and  misery." 
Harold  Begbie's  "Broken  Earthenware"  has  brought 
home  to  all  of  us  the  self-abnegation  of  those  whose 
lives  have  been  changed  by  the  altruism  of  Jesus,  and 
through  the  power  of  His  teaching  have  overcome  the 
world.  In  this  they  find  their  joy  and  exceeding  re- 
ward. In  this  work  of  self-sacrifice  they  realise  them- 
selves. In  sacrificing  the  flesh  they  realise  the  soul, 
and  know  the  peace  and  joy  of  the  Divine  Immanence  ; 
they  come  to  the  full  recognition  of  the  truth  that 
"the  ideal  is  the  real,"  which  brings  the  only  lasting 
satisfaction  to  their  spirit ;  they  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  that  "  the  things  which  are  unseen 
are  eternal. ' '  It  means,  as  Eugels  has  admirably  stated, 
"  the  ascent  of  man  from  the  kingdom  of  necessity 
to  the  kingdom  of  freedom."  When  freed  from  the 
"  cloak  of  self,"  men  are  enabled  to  grasp  the  unseen, 
to  breathe  the  air  of  heaven,  and  become  one  with 
eternity.  Carlyle,  in  one  of  his  finest  passages,  has 
said  :  "In  the  grimmest  rocky  wildernesses  of  exist- 
ence there  are  blessed  well-springs ;  there  is  an  ever- 
lasting guiding  star  "  ;  and  the  Salvation  Army  has 
been  the  means  of  bringing  the  grandeur  and  the  joy 
of  this  thought  to  many  weary  souls. 

It  has  been  given  to  few  men,  as  it  was  to  the  late 
leader  of  the  "  Army,"  to  see  the  triumph  of  his  schemes 
for  the  betterment  of  mankind  thoroughly  established. 
One  of  the  finest  tributes  ever  paid  to  a  man  at  the  end 
of  the  day,  took  the  form  of  an  article  in  "  The  Times," 
in  which  the  work  of  W.  Booth  and  Livingstone  was 
compared.  There  it  was  said :  "  The  words  of  Sir  Bartle 
Frere,  describing  Livingstone,  are  not  less  applicable 


The  Ideal   State  267 

to  Booth.  '  The  work  of  his  life  will  surely  be  held  up 
in  ages  to  come,  as  one  of  singular  nobleness  of  design, 
and  of  unflinching  energy  and  self-sacrifice  in  execu- 
tion.' This  is  a  combination  which  compels  the  ad- 
miration of  all  save  the  dull  and  the  base.  The  men 
who  have  it  are  rare,  and  we  may  be  thankful  for 
them.  They  may  not  succeed,  and,  indeed,  it  is  dim- 
cult  to  say  of  either  of  these  missionaries  how  far  he 
succeeded  in  his  aim.  Nor  does  it  greatly  matter. 
The  great  thing  is  that  they  had  the  aim  and  pursued  it 
with  unflagging  energy  and  unflinching  self-sacrifice. 
They  are  an  example  and  a  light ;  they  raise  the  whole 
standard  of  conduct  in  their  generation  in  a  way  which 
men  with  different  gifts  cannot  compass.  As  for 
visible  success,  no  one  ever  failed,  according  to  the  common 
ideas  of  success,  so  utterly  as  the  Master  they  both  served." 
"  The  Times  "  is  here  consciously  or  unconsciously 
helping  the  ethical  evolution  of  man.  In  this  con- 
clusion it  idealises  self-sacrifice  and  shows  forth  its 
belief  in  the  ideal  regardless  of  worldly  success  or 
substantial  gain  or  possession ;  indeed,  indirectly,  it 
may  be  said  to  pour  contempt  on  "  the  common  ideas 
of  success."  It  must  be  evident  surely  that  here  is 
visible  proof,  if  such  were  needed,  of  the  triumph  of  the 
teachings  of  the  Master,  Whom,  to-day,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  we  all  serve  or  try  to  serve,  and  thus  help 
on  towards  the  glorious  consummation  of  the  ideal  state, 
when,  indeed,  "  Good  shall  be  the  final  goal  of  ill."  The 
ascent  of  man  through  the  ages  has  been  long  and 
steep,  but  at  last  we  are  within  reach  of  his  final 
evolution  by  means  of  the  permeation  of  his  thoughts 
by  the  ideal  of  love  and  self-sacrifice.  It  may  be  long 
in  coming,  but  the  indications  are  strong  that  the 
Will  of  the  Eternal  approaches  completion  and  the 
realisation  of  the  ideal  is  nearing  accomplishment. 
It  is  impossible  to  refrain  from  inscribing  here  Mr. 


268  The  Ideal  State 

Owen  Seaman's  poem,1  full  as  it  is,  as  was  that  already 
given  on  the  late  Dr.  Barnardo,  of  the  noblest  Christian 
ideal,  and  perfection  of  expression  : 

In  Memoriam. 
WILLIAM   BOOTH, 

Founder  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Salvation  Army. 
Born  1829.  Died  August  2oth,  1912. 

As  theirs,  the  warrior  knights  of  Christian  fame, 

Who,  for  the  faith,  led  on  the  battle  line, 
Who  stormed  the  breach  and  swept  through  flood  and  flame 

Under  the  Cross  for  sign, 

Such  was  his  life's  crusade  ;  and  as  their  death 
Inspired  in  men  a  purpose  pure  of  taint — 

In  some  great  cause  to  give  their  latest  breath — 
So  died  this  soldier  saint. 

Nay,  his  the  nobler  warfare,  since  his  hands 
Set  free  the  thralls  of  misery  and  her  brood — 

Hunger  and  haunting  shame  and  sin  that  brands — 
And  gave  them  hope  renewed. 

Bruised  souls  and  bodies  broken  by  despair — 

He  healed  their  heartache,  and  their  wounds  he  dressed, 

And  drew  them,  so  redeemed,  his  task  to  share, 
Sworn  to  the  same  high  quest. 

Armed  with  the  Spirit's  wisdom  for  his  sword, 

His  feet  with  tidings  of  salvation  shod, 
He  knew  no  foes,  save  only  such  as  warred 

Against  the  peace  of  God. 

Scorned  or  acclaimed,  he  kept  his  harness  bright, 
Still,  through  the  darkest  hour,  untaught  to  yield, 

And,  at  the  last,  his  face  towards  the  light, 
Fell  on  the  victor's  field. 

No  laurelled  blazon  rests  above  his  bier, 
Yet  a  great  people  bows  its  stricken  head 

Where  he  who  fought  without  reproach  or  fear, 
Soldier  of  Christ,  lies  dead. 

1  By  kind  permission  of  Mr.  Seaman  and  the  Proprietors  of  "  Punch." 


The  Ideal  State  269 

There  are  many  sublime  thoughts  in  this  poem. 
He  healed  the  broken-hearted,  "  and  drew  them,  so 
redeemed,  his  task  to  share,"  and  around  his  tomb 
"  a  great  people  bows  its  stricken  head  where  he  who 
fought  without  reproach  or  fear,  soldier  of  Christ,  lies 
dead."  But  these  are  not  only  great  thoughts,  but 
facts,  and  we  are  entitled  to  point  to  them  as  evidence 
that  the  Great  Miracle  is  in  process  of  accomplishment, 
and  that  "  the  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  the  Man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,"  has  triumphed 
and  "  overcome  the  world." 

We  have  referred  to  trade  unions.  No  doubt  there 
must  be  an  extension  of  these  organisations  so  as  to 
include  every  worker  in  the  land,  so  that  poverty, 
as  a  result  of  insufficient  wages,  will  be  demolished, 
and  have  passed  to  the  limbo  of  forgotten  things.  The 
most  recent  development  of  trade  unionism  is  known 
as  Syndicalism,  and  the  subject  has  already  been  dealt 
with  generally.  It  was  pointed  out  that  in  so  far  as 
the  workers  desire  to  become  the  possessors  of  the 
different  trades  to  the  exclusion  of  the  capitalist  and 
the  people  as  a  whole,  they  are  on  wrong  lines ;  and 
that  if  a  new  condition  of  things,  to  be  secured  by  the 
abolition  of  the  present  capitalistic  system,  is  to  be 
permanent,  it  must  be  founded  on  altruistic  and  not 
on  materialistic  principles.  An  exchange  of  posses- 
sion may  be  necessary  as  a  step  in  the  evolutionary 
process  at  work  in  society,  but  it  cannot  be  permanent. 
The  only  permanence  possible  is  that  which  shall  be 
established  on  a  basis  of  collectivism.  In  other 
words,  all  landed  property  and  all  industry  and  com- 
merce must  become  an  integral  portion  of  the  State, 
all  being  controlled  and  worked  for  the  benefit  of  every 
individual  according  to  his  necessary  requirements. 
This  entails  the  abrogation  of  individual  wealth,  of 
greed,  of  the  desire  to  accumulate  possessions,  which 


270  The  Ideal  State 

can  only  be  accomplished  when  the  natural  man 
shall  have  come  to  realise  that  true  happiness  is  only 
possible  when  he  has  discarded  the  cloak  of  self,  and 
adopted  the  teachings  of  Jesus  as  his  rule  of  conduct. 
Man  all  along  has  been  "  Time's  fool."  The  immortal 
Shakespeare  had  fathomed  this  truth,  as  he  had  all 
truth,  for  what  is  there  in  the  nature  of  man  and 
things  to  which  he  has  not  penetrated  ?  "  Love's  not 
Time's  fool,"  he  says  ;  which  means  that  love  is  not 
of  time,  but  of  eternity.  In  the  consummation  of  the 
spiritual  evolution  which  is  at  the  present  time  slowly 
operating  in  society,  and  will  ultimately  obtain  the 
mastery,  we  shall  be  able  to  say  to  the  race  of  men  in 
the  beautiful  words  and  illuminating  thought  of  a 
recent  poet  : 

"  Wert  thou  Time's  fool  ?    I  am  Love  ;    I  set  thee  free; 
I  am  the  door  into  Eternity." 

Is  it  not  one  of  the  greatest  miracles  of  history  that 
the  salvation  of  the  world  is  about  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  application  of  the  teachings  of  One  who,  two 
thousand  years  ago,  was  the"  despised  and  rejected  of 
men  ;  a  Man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief," 
Who  died  a  felon's  death  ?  Men  of  all  Christian  coun- 
tries have  professed  all  through  the  ages  since  that 
time  their  belief  in  His  teachings,  but  only  now  is  it 
coming  to  be  realised  that  they  must  not  only  be  pro- 
fessed, but  acted  upon.  "  Let  no  man  seek  his  own, 
but  every  man  another's  good."  "  Having  food  and 
raiment,  let  us  be  therewith  content."  "  But  they  that 
will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into 
many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in 
destruction  and  perdition."  "  God  hath  chosen  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise  ;  and 
God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  things  which  are  mighty ;  and  base  things 


The  Ideal  State  271 

of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God 
chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to 
naught  things  that  are  :  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in 
His  presence."  We  know  these  are  true  ;  we  believe 
they  are  the  very  truth  of  God  ;  and  yet  how  slow  we 
have  been  to  act  upon  them.  But  secretly  they  have 
been  leavening  the  whole  lump,  and  now  all  the  powers 
of  wealth,  of  property,  of  pomp,  and  empire  are  be- 
ginning to  realise  that  the  temporal  must  yield  to  the 
eternal,  that  the  vain  passing  show  is  naught,  and  can 
only  be  considered  worthy  of  attention  when  it  acts  in 
conformity  with  the  universal  and  the  infinite,  and  the 
sufferings  of  men  can  only  disappear  when  all  submit 
wholly  and  unreservedly  to  the  guidance  of  Him  who 
overcame  the  world  by  the  supremest  act  of  self- 
sacrifice. 

To  return  to  the  consideration  of  "  Syndicalism," 
we  hope  we  may  be  permitted  to  quote  from  a  recent 
article1  by  Odon  Por  and  F.  M.  Atkinson,  in  order  to 
show  that  the  workers  are  quite  alive  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  possible  to  expect  any  substantial  social 
regeneration  with  the  human  material  of  the  present 
order  unchanged,  and  "  accordingly  they  endeavour 
to  combine  the  creation  of  the  new  society  with  the 
creation  of  the  new  man."  Does  not  this  prove  the 
falsity  of  the  statements  contained  in  the  pamphlets 
issued  by  the  anti-Socialists,  who  state  that  the  denial 
of  God,  of  Christianity,  of  all  religion,  is  the  cardinal 
doctrine  of  the  Socialist  propaganda  ?  There  need  be  no 
fear  on  this  score,  as  the  social  regeneration  which  has 
been  accomplished,  and  is  now  ameliorating  the  lot  of 
humanity,  is  entirely  the  result  of  the  diffusion  of 
Christian  ethics  in  men's  minds,  and  by  this  means 
alone  have  such  things  become  possible.  "  They  firmly 
believe  that  such  a  future  depends  entirely  upon  their 
1  "  English  Review," 


272  The  Ideal  State 

personal  qualities  and  efforts,  and  upon  their  moral 
value,  and  so  they  consciously  seek  out  ways  of  in- 
creasing the  technical  capacities  of  the  industrial 
worker,  knowing  that  through  this  he  will  desire  a  pro- 
found change  in  the  organisation  of  the  industries  in 
particular,  and  in  society  in  general."  G.  Beaubois,  a 
clerk  in  the  French  Post  Office,  writes  in  regard  to  this 
aspect  of  the  question  :  "  Syndicalists  must  take  care 
of  the  technical,  moral,  and  social  perfection  of  the 
young  workers  ;  they  must  guide  and  advise  them,  and 
awaken  in  them  the  spirit  of  observation,  the  qualities 
of  initiative  and  energy.  They  must  efface  the  painful 
and  repugnant  features  that  accompany  labour  under 
the  present  organisation  of  production.  The  problem 
of  progress  lies  in  saving  work  from  monotony,  and 
routine  from  fatality  and  servitude.  In  other  words, 
the  problem  of  progress  lies  in  freeing  work,  and 
ennobling  it.  To  initiate  every  worker  into  the  progress 
of  industry  and  the  marvels  of  human  activity,  to  show 
them  the  usefulness  of  their  efforts  and  the  grandeur  of 
their  work — that  is,  to  give  them  a  passion,  a  soul,  a 
conscience.  The  labour  organisations  should  become 
paternal  homes  for  the  young  workers,  protecting 
them  from  all  temptations  and  leading  them  into  life. 
A  revolution  does  not  improvise  itself,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary that  in  the  industrial  groups  new  ideas,  new 
collective  sentiments  should  be  born,  and  should 
develop  and  prepare  the  social  change." 

It  ought  to  be  understood  that  this  is  one  of  the  most 
recent  pronouncements  by  one  of  the  most  advanced 
advocates  of  industrial  reform  on  collectivist  lines,  and 
yet,  instead  of  doctrines  of  atheism,  anarchism,  and 
"  Ihypothese  Dieu,"  we  have  the  inculcation  of  the 
technical,  moral,  and  social  perfection  of  the  young 
workers,  of  guidance  and  advice  so  as  to  awaken 
the  spirit  of  observation  and  qualities  of  initiative  and 


The  Ideal  State  273 

energy,  of  freeing  work  and  ennobling  it,  showing  forth 
the  usefulness  of  effort  and  the  grandeur  of  work,  thus 
giving  them  a  passion,  a  soul,  a  conscience.  Does  not 
this  show  clearly  the  subtle  influence  of  the  altruistic 
ethical  evolution  moulding  men  and  history  and  guiding 
them  towards  a  higher  and  higher  spiritual  plane  ? 
The  labour  organisations  are  to  protect  the  young 
workers  from  temptation  and  lead  them  into  life. 
Surely  a  movement  of  this  kind  with  such  noble  ideals 
ought  to  be  encouraged  by  every  possible  means,  and 
advised  wherever  it  may  appear  to  deviate  from  the 
path  of  true  altruism.  It  ought  to  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  never  before  in  the  history  of  trade  or  busi- 
ness has  it  been  considered  that  the  care  of  the  youth 
morally  came  within  its  province.  Seldom  has  the  rich 
employer  taken  steps  to  guard  the  unwary  and  the 
inexperienced  setting  forth  on  life's  precarious  journey, 
with  its  many  pitfalls,  particularly  in  its  first  stages. 
It  must  be  evident  to  all — he  who  runs  may  read — that 
the  social  betterment  of  the  working  classes  must  of 
necessity  mean  a  moral  betterment,  for  both  the  social 
and  the  moral  are  phases  of  the  spiritual  evolution 
which  is  the  fount  and  origin  of  the  whole  propaganda. 
The  reader  will  be  interested  to  learn  how  the  work- 
men have  proceeded  in  one  or  two  instances  where 
Syndicalism  has  taken  concrete  form.  The  Industrial 
Union  of  the  Bottle  Blowers  of  Italy  had  been  in 
existence  for  ten  years  ;  it  was  a  Socialist  organisation 
endeavouring  to  realise  its  aims  by  political  action. 
In  Italy  the  bottle-making  industry  now  lies  between 
the  factories  of  the  Industrial  Union  and  the  Bottle 
Trust.  A  strike  occurred  against  one  glass  manu- 
facturer who  refused  the  demands  of  the  Bottle  Blowers' 
Union,  to  which  all  workers  in  the  bottle  industry, 
whatever  their  trade,  belong.  After  a  year  of  struggle, 
the  members  of  the  Union  raised  funds,  some  even 


274  The  Ideal  State 

selling  their  beds,  and  built  factories,  in  which  employ- 
ment was  given  to  their  brethren  on  strike.  Soon  a 
new  furnace  was  required,  and  the  workers,  without 
help  from  mechanics  or  masons,  built  the  second  one  in 
about  a  fourth  of  the  time  usually  required,  and  gave 
work  to  other  members  of  the  Union  out  on  strike  or 
unemployed.  The  manufacturer  was  beaten  and  was 
finally  absorbed  by  the  Trust,  which  granted  all  the 
demands  of  the  Union  for  its  members. 

The  Trust  endeavoured  to  crush  the  Union,  but  the 
latter  was  able  to  build  new  factories,  so  that  the  Trust 
found  its  business  curtailed  and  profits  reduced.  The 
Trust  then  tried  underselling  and  inducing  the  banks  to 
refuse  credit.  This  failed,  for  the  superiority  of  their 
manufactured  article  won  the  day.  Each  factory  was 
able  to  produce  a  bottle  of  such  quality  that  although 
it  was  necessary  to  sell  at  higher  prices  than  the  Trust, 
the  Union  could  dispose  of  its  whole  output  in  advance. 
At  the  present  time  there  are  3500  members  in  the 
Union,  of  whom  the  Trust  employs  1000  and  the  co- 
operative factories  2500.  Every  member  is  a  share- 
holder, even  those  working  for  the  Trust. 

For  and  Atkinson  point  out  the  two  factors  which 
have  secured  their  success.  "  The  first  is  their  technical 
efficiency,  their  professional  consciousness  brought  out 
in  their  effort  to  create  collectively  something  new  and 
positive.  The  second  factor  is  their  moral  solidarity, 
evolved  by  their  Socialist  training.  ...  In  their 
struggle  they  forgot  their  immediate  interests  and 
worked  with  all  their  energy  for  the  liberation  of  their 
whole  class  from  capitalism.  They  were  dominated  by 
a  social  vision,  by  a  greater  sense  of  human  fraternity. 
A  wonderful  discipline  prevails,  which  guarantees  a 
continuous  process  of  production,  and  fires  each  worker 
to  work  at  his  best.  In  all  the  factories  there  is  not  a 
single  overseer.  The  moral  solidarity  created  by  the 


The  Ideal  State  275 

struggle  awaked  the  conscience  of  workers  in  all 
directions.  For  example,  glass  blowers  the  world  over 
are  heavy  drinkers,  but  these  men  gave  up  drinking. 
Their  life  being  filled  with  an  ideal,  a  social  purpose, 
and  a  continuous  concentration  on  various  problems, 
they  find  pleasure  in  it,  and  have  no  need  to  drink  for 
solace."  They  renounced  their  legitimate  dividends, 
accepting  the  same  wages  as  their  comrades  working 
for  capitalist  concerns,  and  turned  over  all  the  net 
profits  of  their  co-operation  to  mutual  aid  funds. 
They  have  no  intention  of  becoming  capitalists.  They 
want  to  free  themselves  from  capitalism  and  to  set  an 
example  to  other  workers.  With  the  profits  of  their 
enterprise  they  help  the  Socialist  and  Labour  move- 
ments, they  provide  schools  for  their  own  children  and 
for  the  children  of  other  workers,  and  were  actually  the 
first  to  adopt  the  now  famous  Montessori  system  of 
kindergarten  education.  They  built  workmen's  houses, 
providing  better  homes,  better  nucleuses  for  the  new 
social  life.  Their  factories  are  model  factories  in  the 
industry  ;  they  are  the  best  equipped  in  the  world 
with  labour-saving  machinery,  labour-protecting  de- 
vices, hygienic  arrangements,  and  they  are  prepared  to 
introduce  any  new  technical  or  financial  method  in 
their  industry.  Experts  from  all  countries  come  to 
them  to  learn  and  profit  by  their  experience.  ...  In 
short,  they  have  improved  the  conditions  of  their  own 
life  and  work,  making  both  healthier  and  less  irksome, 
accomplishing  their  higher  duty  to  themselves,  since 
a  revolutionary  working-class  must  elevate  its  material 
level  in  order  to  make  itself  fit  for  fulfilling  its  social 
mission.  "  This  movement,  then,  represents  the  new 
fact  of  Syndicalism  in  operation.  An  industrial  union 
of  workers  has  found  within  itself  all  the  necessary 
elements  for  resistance  against  organised  capital  and 
all  the  necessary  factors  of  progressing  towards  the 


276 


The  Ideal  State 


positive  and  thorough  conquest  of  the  means  of  pro- 
duction. .  .  .  The  force  which  these  workers  have 
substituted,  for  individual  and  associated  capitalist 
initiative  and  efficiency  of  their  organised  class,  fore- 
shadows to  syndicalists  the  future,  for  they  declare 
that  just  this  professional  consciousness  and  moral 
training  is  the  force  which  will  lead  to  the  future  social 
order,  and  on  which  it  will  depend,  and  as  it  is  at 
the  present,  so  will  it  be  in  the  future,  a  source  of 
increasing  economic  progress  and  continuously  growing 
moral  development." 

We  have  given  this  long  extract  from  the  article  in 
order  to  show  that  the  modern  cry  of  "  the  country 
going  to  the  dogs  "  ;  "  revolution  rampant  "  ;  "  the 
wreck  of  the  constitution,"  is  the  result  of  ignorance 
and  prejudice.  Social  betterment,  as  we  have  reiterated 
again  and  again,  must  mean  moral  improvement. 
Raise  a  man's  mental  outlook,  and  he  at  once  becomes 
possessed  by  an  ideal,  which  causes  him  to  shed  the  gross 
and  the  degrading,  and  concentrate  his  energies  on  the 
attainment  of  higher  effort.  As  instanced  above,  the 
drunkards  cease  to  drink.  Moreover,  the  love  of  their 
fellows  is  proved  in  this  instance  to  be  the  direct  out- 
come of  better  conditions.  Having  known  the  evils  of 
capitalism,  these  men  have  no  desire  to  accumulate 
wealth,  and  therefore  they  devote  their  superfluous 
means  to  help  the  movement  which  has  done  so  much 
for  them,  to  provide  schools,  workmen's  houses,  and 
better  homes. 

A  similar  movement  has  been  applied  to  the  land  in 
Italy,  where  200,000  acres  have  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  farm  labourers,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  land- 
lords. They  have  improved  the  land,  regulated  em- 
ployment, and  eliminated  the  heartless  sacrifice  of  the 
unemployed,  of  the  old  and  the  less  fit  workers.  The 
Italian  Government  has  recognised  the  importance  of 


The  Ideal  State  277 

this  new  departure  by  introducing  a  Bill  with  the 
purpose  of  leasing  the  Italian  State  lands,  amounting 
to  several  million  acres,  to  these  co-operative  societies, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  establish  a  co-operative  bank, 
so  as  to  give  credit  to  the  land  labourers  on  favourable 
terms,  and  encourage  their  collective  organisations. 
May  we  not  join  in  the  cry  of  "  Wake  up,  England  !  " 
Surely  it  is  time  we  were  seeing  to  it  that  we  were  not 
left  behind  in  the  path  of  reform. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  movement  is  a  great 
advance  ;  it  means  the  control  of  the  industry  by  the 
workers  collectively,  for  their  own  advantage  and  that 
of  the  trade  concerned.  What  is  wanting  at  present  is 
a  further  collectivism  of  all  trades  acting  together,  for 
the  benefit  of  every  member  of  the  State.  This  will 
necessarily  follow,  and  when  the  abolition  of  the  gold 
standard  is  an  accomplished  fact  and  the  attainment 
of  individual  wealth  becomes  impossible,  each  will  seek 
the  other's  good  and  find  his  chief  happiness  therein. 
As  a  stage  in  the  process  of  social  evolution,  which 
deserves  every  encouragement,  it  must  be  guided  so  as 
not  to  take  up  a  too  independent  or  isolated  position  ; 
each  trade  or  industry  must  recognise  that  it  is  part  of 
the  body  politic,  and  as  it  seeks  its  own  social  better- 
ment, it  is  its  duty  to  take  every  possible  means  to 
secure  better  conditions  for  every  other  member  of  the 
State.  Already  we  may  see  a  movement  in  this  direc- 
tion— the  syndicalists  desire  to  make  the  movement 
international  and  universal  and  bring  about  an  inter- 
national affiliation  and  co-operation.  The  syndicalist 
believes  that  his  ideal  society  will  only  be  attained  by 
the  organised  will  of  the  working-classes.  It  will  be 
attained  much  quicker  and  more  thoroughly,  however, 
when  they  come  to  understand  that  what  they  have 
done  has  been  possible  only  by  means  of  the  spirit  of 
love  and  self-abnegation,  generated  in  men's  minds  by 


278 


The  Ideal  State 


the  ethics  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  that  all  is  con- 
trolled by  the  Eternal,  who  maketh  for  righteousness. 

It  may  appear  that  this  law  of  spiritual  evolution  is 
too  often  repeated  and  insisted  on.  We  do  not  admit 
this,  and  do  not  think  it  can.  If  it  is  not  realised  and 
acted  upon,  the  social  evolution  and  higher  spiritual 
development  of  mankind  can  only  be  delayed,  and  the 
struggles  to  improve  his  lot  rendered  fruitless  and  vain. 
The  sooner  man  universally  comes  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  operation  of  this  law  of  spiritual  evolution,  under 
the  guiding  hand  of  the  Eternal,  the  more  rapid  of 
necessity  will  be  the  advance  of  the  social  amelioration 
of  humanity,  and  the  voluntary  self-sacrifice  of  each 
individual  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

We  must  now,  for  a  brief  space,  consider  the  "  theory 
of  value  "  of  Mill  and  Marx,  which  means  that  every 
article  must  be  valued  according  to  the  amount  of 
labour  expended  upon  it.  This  definition  can  hardly 
be  said  to  be  exact,  as  many  articles  are  of  value 
according  to  the  rarity  of  the  original  substance,  or  the 
difficulty  of  securing  it,  before  any  actual  labour  has 
been  expended  in  the  way  of  producing  the  finished 
product.  And  the  awful  condition  of  those  engaged  in 
the  sweated  industries  proves  that  the  amount  of 
labour  is  a  small  factor,  and  that  unless  the  interests 
of  those  engaged  in  these  are  safeguarded — in  other 
words,  until  they  form  a  trade  union  to  defend  their 
own  interest — the  workers  cannot  expect  to  receive  a 
return  in  proportion  to  the  labour  expended.  Mill  and 
Marx  contend  that  the  share  of  the  value  of  a  given 
total  of  products,  which  is  taken  by  the  employer  as 
his  profits,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  labour  produces  more 
than  is  necessary  for  its  own  support.  Mr.  Mallock,  on 
the  other  hand,  contends  that  the  labour  of  average 
men,  when  directed  by  a  man  whose  mind  is  above 
the  average,  produces  indefinitely  more  than  it  would 


The  Ideal  State  279 


produce  were  it  operating  solely  under  the  direction  of 
the  minds  of  the  labourers  themselves.  This  can  no 
longer  stand  as  a  stable  proposition,  considering  the 
businesses  managed  and  controlled  by  the  workers 
alone  in  Italy,  as  just  explained  in  the  glass-blowing, 
agricultural,  and  railway  industries  under  the  Syndi- 
calist regime  at  present  in  vogue  there.  A  great  deal 
might  be  written  in  regard  to  this  "  theory  of  value," 
but  in  relation  to  the  evolution  of  the  ideal  state  it 
would  be  "  weary,  flat,  stale,  and  unprofitable."  No 
doubt  in  the  earlier  stages  of  such  an  evolution  a  system 
of  barter  such  as  has  been  tried  in  London  among  a 
band  of  social  enthusiasts  even  under  present-day  con- 
ditions would  be  founded  upon  a  certain  value,  attach- 
ing to  each  product  supplied  or  service  rendered  by  the 
different  members  of  the  community.  To  take  a  con- 
crete example,  the  doctor  for,  say,  a  week's  work  will 
receive  according  to  his  labour  so  many  barter  tickets, 
which  will  be  exchanged  for  so  much  bread,  meat, 
clothing,  and  housing  such  as  he  requires.  The  pur- 
veyor of  all  the  necessaries  of  life  simply  returns  these 
tickets  to  the  doctor,  lawyer,  clergyman,  or  school- 
master for  their  services,  and  each  exchanges  them  as 
he  requires.  Thus  the  cycle  works  among  all  members, 
who  are  also  workers,  in  the  community.  As  already 
urged,  all  are  labourers  in  the  ideal  state  ;  we  cannot 
talk  of  classes,  for  in  the  New  Utopia  there  can  be  no 
such  luxuries,  except  in  so  far  as  men  are  of  outstanding 
merit  intellectually  and  morally.  It  is  not  possible  to 
secure  and  it  is  not  desirable  to  attain  a  dead  level  of 
uniformity ;  one  cannot  eliminate  the  power  and 
domination  of  the  intellect.  But  as  the  ideal  state  will 
only  become  possible  when  man  has  become  purged 
from  much  of  his  dust  and  dross,  it  is  quite  fair  to  argue 
that  men  of  great  intellectual  calibre  will  use  their 
talents  for  the  benefit  of  their  brethren,  and  take  their 


280  The  Ideal  State 

chief  delight  therein,  well  content  with  the  gratitude 
and  appreciation  of  their  fellow-men,  and  deriving 
serene  satisfaction  and  elevation  of  soul  from  the 
thought  that  by  taking  trouble  they  have  been  able  to 
do  good  to  others. 

As  man  grows  in  spiritual  attainment,  which  we 
believe  we  have  proved  is  a  necessary  result  of  the 
present  evolutionary  process  at  work  in  our  Western 
civilisation,  it  seems  right  to  believe  that  all  idea  of 
value  will  be  discarded.  Each  man  will  have  food, 
housing,  and  clothing  secured  to  him  without  payment 
of  any  kind,  simply  in  return  for  good  work  well  done. 
As  we  have  indicated,  the  gold  standard  must  be 
abolished  ultimately  if  the  race  is  to  evolve  to  a  higher 
spiritual  nature.  A  higher  evolution  is  quite  impossible 
as  long  as  man  has  the  opportunity  of  giving  way  to 
greed,  to  the  accumulation  of  unnecessary  wealth  and 
property.  Each  unit  will  find  his  niche  in  the  great 
temple  of  the  State,  and  be  willing  to  do  there  the  work 
for  which  he  is  best  fitted,  in  the  interests  of  his  fellow- 
men,  and  realising  in  supremest  degree  his  own  happi- 
ness. Each  works  for  all,  and  all  for  each,  and  are 
thereby  content.  The  spirit  of  love  and  self-sacrifice 
inculcated  by  the  Saviour  of  men  shall  have  overcome 
the  world  under  the  guidance  of  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness which  proceedeth  from  the  Eternal. 

There  are  difficulties  not  a  few,  and  of  no  mean  order, 
which  must  be  faced — "  the  way  is  long,  and  the  path 
is  steep  " — but  the  overcoming  of  these  is  demanded 
by  the  spiritual  evolutionary  process,  as  necessary  to 
its  fulfilment,  and  in  order  to  allow  of  the  realisation  of 
the  ideal  state,  where  selfishness  will  be  unknown  and 
altruism  the  one  rule  of  life.  Just  to  mention  one 
difficulty  :  let  us  imagine  that  a  great  intellect  is  found 
to  inhabit  a  member  of  the  State  engaged  in  a  menial 
occupation.  Is  he  to  be  removed  from  his  work  and 


The  Ideal  State  281 

allowed  to  develop  his  higher  faculties,  and  who  is  to 
adjudicate  in  this  important  matter  ?  Such  difficulties 
as  these  will  in  the  course  of  time  settle  themselves  ; 
they  will  doubtless  be  dealt  with  by  bodies  of  men  of 
ability  and  sound  judgment  specially  selected.  In 
many  cases  it  would  be  wise  to  relieve  the  exceptional 
man  of  his  ordinary  duties  altogether,  so  as  to  devote 
his  entire  energies  to  the  intellectual,  artistic,  or 
spiritual  betterment  of  society,  and  so  contribute  in  a 
greater  degree  to  the  further  happiness  of  the  race. 

Bellamy  deserves  our  gratitude  for  his  delightful 
book  "  Looking  Backward,"  and  we  shall  always 
honour  him  as  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  ideal  state. 
All  endeavouring  to  help  on  the  higher  trend  of 
things  must  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  him  for 
the  thinking  out  of  many  details  which  but  for  his  in- 
sight might  have  appeared  insuperable.  One  of  the 
great  difficulties  has  always  been  the  performance  of 
menial  and  disagreeable  duties,  and  the  conduct  of 
trades  of  specially  severe  effort  or  noxious  conditions. 
Bellamy  points  out  that  there  is  only  one  way  in  which 
this  difficulty  can  be  solved,  and  that  is  by  all  young 
men  and  young  women  for  a  certain  number  of  years 
(three  is  the  limit  suggested)  giving  their  time  and 
effort  to  the  performance  of  such  duties.  Only  a 
limited  portion  of  each  day  would  be  required  for  this 
with  such  an  army  of  workers.  It  does  not  need  to  be 
pointed  out  that  this  would  be  most  carefully  super- 
vised, and  that  young  women  would  be  spared  the  very 
disagreeable  duties,  or  those  to  which  they  objected 
or  were  unfitted,  and  that  they  would  never  be  asked 
to  undertake  severe  labour  or  that  in  which  the  condi- 
tions were  unsuitable.  Such  duties  would  not  be  under- 
taken until  maturity  had  been  attained  ;  and  as  only 
a  limited  portion  of  each  day  would  be  required  for 
this  with  such  an  army  of  workers,  everyone  would 


2% 2  The  Ideal  State 

have  ample  time  for  physical  and  intellectual  effort, 
such  as  would  fit  them  to  be  efficient  in  their  future 
work  on  behalf  of  the  State.  The  future  work  suitable 
to  every  individual  would  be  decided  by  special 
committees  and  sub-committees,  such  as  have  been 
indicated,  who  would  carefully  study  the  inclination, 
the  faculties,  and  previous  record  of  every  individual. 
No  doubt  it  would  be  arranged  that  if  in  process  of 
time  it  were  discovered  that  a  change  of  occupation 
was  desirable,  the  decision  would  be  reconsidered,  and, 
if  thought  advisable,  altered. 

In  Bellamy's  system  all  artistic  pleasures — the 
drama,  painting,  sculpture,  and  music — can  be  enjoyed 
by  everyone  without  limitation,  as  at  present  to  those 
of  large  means.  The  artists,  loving  Art  for  Art's  sake, 
and  recognising  that  "Life  is  short,  but  infinite;  Art 
is  long,  but  inexhaustible,"1  give  their  powers  and 
talents  to  the  higher  evolution  of  the  race,  and  find 
therein  the  truest  happiness  and  reward.  They  receive 
from  the  State  all  needful  requirements  and  necessities 
of  existence,  with  equal  advantages  similar  to  those 
possessed  by  everyone,  in  the  privilege  of  enjoyment 
of  all  forms  of  art  and  culture  they  may  desire,  with  all 
literature  within  their  reach,  and  the  pursuit  of  the 
study  of  any  subject  which  interests  them  in  the  State 
Universities.  Similarly,  the  experts  in  all  subjects  of 
philosophy,  science,  and  learning,  as  professors  in  the 
Universities  of  every  large  town,  imbued  as  they  all  are 
with  the  altruistic  spirit,  delight  to  pour  forth  the 
treasure  of  their  minds,  the  results  of  long  years  of 
study  and  reflection  in  order  to  raise  their  fellow-men 
to  a  higher  standard  of  being. 

We  think  we  hear  someone  say :  "  This  is  very  well 
for  literary  people,  professors,  and  artists,  but  it  won't 
do  for  business  men.  Who  is  going  to  take  the  trouble  to 

1  Frederic  Harrison,  "Among  My  Books,"  in  "  English  Review." 


The  Ideal  State  283 

import,  for  instance,  such  a  substance  as  cotton,  super- 
vise factories,  and  send  the  finished  product  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  to  help  to  clothe  the 
multitude  if  there  is  to  be  no  reward  for  this  labour  and 
thought  ?  "  It  would  certainly  be  very  difficult  to  get 
anyone  to  do  such  work  at  the  present  time  for  a  mere 
livelihood,  even  with  all  the  advantages  of  art,  litera- 
ture, and  learning,  which,  as  we  have  already  indicated, 
are  open  to  all.  It  is  surely,  however,  not  a  difficult 
thing  to  believe  that  in  a  more  advanced  stage  of 
spiritual  evolution  a  man  of  energy  would  find  the 
greatest  satisfaction  in  the  knowledge  that  in  his  own 
particular  sphere,  and  according  to  his  ability,  he  was 
serving  mankind  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  capacity. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  idea  of  acquiring  wealth  or 
property  should  ever  occur  to  his  mind,  as  it  is  never 
possible  for  him  to  forget  the  many  and  great  advan- 
tages which  the  State  confers  in  every  possible  way,  and 
not  least  in  showing  him  the  pathway  to  reality — of 
true  self-realisation. 

It  may  be  asked :  "  Can  no  one,  then,  obtain  any 
special  work  of  art  to  adorn  his  own  household  ?  "  We 
have  no  doubt,  and  cannot  conceive  that  the  desire  for 
artistic  beauty  would  not  be  encouraged  in  every  way, 
but  it  must  not  be  allowed  ever  to  interfere  with  the 
general  advantage,  and  therefore  all  great  works  must 
find  a  home  in  special  galleries  where  they  can  be 
studied  and  admired  by  the  general  body  of  the  people. 
The  collections  of  great  paintings  on  the  part  of  rich 
men  in  their  own  residences  is  not  to  be  encouraged  or 
admired  ;  the  pleasure  derived  from  their  contempla- 
tion is  of  so  thoroughly  selfish  a  character  that  it  can 
confer  no  elevation  of  soul :  it  is  a  stream  of  pure  water 
polluted  at  its  source.  There  are  some  men  of  large 
outlook  and  possessed  by  true  altruism  who  have 
been  able  to  enjoy  the  delight  of  self-sacrifice  and  given 


284 


The  Ideal  State 


their  art  treasures  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  nation  as 
a  [whole.  If  this  is  possible  for  one,  is  it  not  for  all  ? 
And  in  a  further  stage  of  evolution  it  will  be  the  only 
thinkable  way  of  fostering  and  developing  Art. 

As  we  continue  it  becomes  more  and  more  evident 
that  such  a  state  is  only  possible  by  the  subordination 
to  the  utmost  of  all  selfish  interests.  Before  this  can  be 
secured,  the  State  must  take  steps  to  prevent  the 
accumulation  of  wealth,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by 
the  abolition  of  the  gold  standard.  This  is  necessary 
not  only  in  the  interests  of  the  lower  strata  of  society, 
but  in  that  of  the  clever,  the  greedy,  and  unscrupulous, 
who  take  their  chief  pleasure  in  the  hoarding  of  gain 
and  the  acquiring  of  property ;  for  nothing  is  more 
deteriorating  to  man's  higher  nature  and  productive 
of  the  greatest  evil  to  his  own  physical  condition 
and  mental  capacity  than  the  gross  satisfaction  of 
luxurious  and  sensual  tastes  which  the  power  of  money 
enables  him  to  gratify.  We  are  therefore  entitled  to 
conclude  that  such  a  system  is  the  only  one  which  can 
do  anything  to  alleviate  the  present  "  la  miser e."  As 
long  as  gold  is  the  vehicle  of  exchange,  the  burdens  of 
industrialism  must  continue  to  weigh  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  poor  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  And  such  a 
system  is  quite  as  workable  as  the  present,  and  brings 
with  it  what  the  other  does  not — the  peace  which 
passeth  all  understanding — to  all  who  have  seen  beyond 
the  mere  material  aspect  to  the  light  which  enlightens 
the  darkness  of  the  world. 

No  doubt  it  will  be  maintained  that  even  with  the 
abolition  of  the  gold  standard  and  the  negation  of 
private  property  the  greedy  individual  will  always 
be  able  to  appropriate  more  of  the  goods  common  to 
the  State  than  is  his  proper  and  fair  share,  and  in  this 
way  will  acquire  possessions  even  although  the  amount 
be  limited.  In  regard  to  this  objection  one  cannot 


The  Ideal  State  285 

doubt  that  the  State  through  its  officials  would  be  able 
to  guard  its  own  commodities  in  the  interests  of  all. 
Moreover,  this  act  would  be  a  gross  violation  of  that 
ethical  system  which  alone  has  made  the  existence  of 
the  State  possible,  so  that  attempts  of  this  nature  are 
almost  inconceivable,  and  in  any  case  must  be  very 
rare.  The  dread  and  certainty  of  discovery  would  be  a 
deterrent  of  no  mean  force.  In  fact,  a  case  of  this  kind 
in  such  a  community  would  be  dealt  with  from  the 
point  of  view  of  mental  aberration,  and  would  entail 
special  treatment. 

Luxury  has  been  stated  to  be  bad  for  the  individual 
who  succumbs  to  its  attractions.  It  deteriorates  the 
body  of  man,  and  degeneration  of  soul  invariably 
accompanies  that  of  body  induced  by  such  causes. 
This  was  one  of  the  main  arguments  against  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
welfare  of  the  individual.  Its  effect  on  the  family  was 
also  considered,  in  that  the  sons  of  men  who  had 
accumulated  wealth  were  tempted  by  the  seductions  of 
alcohol  and  vice.  But  the  subject  deserves  considera- 
tion from  another  aspect.  It  is  commonly  believed 
that  it  does  not  matter  how  money  is  spent ;  that  the 
great  point  is  the  spending  of  it,  as  thereby  it  is  circu- 
lated and  society  as  a  whole  eventually  gets  the  benefit. 
It  must  be  evident,  however,  that  money  spent  on  the 
racecourse  in  the  form  of  gambling  losses  or  in  alcoholic 
debauch  not  only  injures  the  individual  so  indulging, 
but  injures  others,  in  so  far  as  it  is  being  used  for  a 
purpose  damaging  to  society  in  fostering  gambling  and 
helping  a  trade  which,  in  most  instances,  is  deleterious 
to  the  members  of  the  State.  Moreover,  the  money  so 
misspent  might  have  been  devoted  to  the  purchase  of 
commodities  the  manufacture  of  which  deserves  en- 
couragement, to  foster  the  general  trade  and  prosperity 
of  the  country,  and  in  this  way  pass  on  to  the  workers 


286  The  Ideal  State 

who  make  the  necessaries  of  life  the  means  of  subsistence. 
Or  it  might  have  been  devoted  to  the  acquisition  of 
works  of  Art,  which  is  ever  deserving  of  encourage- 
ment, and  is  the  means  by  which  the  happiness  of  the 
people  can  be  increased  and  their  culture  promoted. 

All  luxurious  use  of  wealth  is  injurious  to  the  State 
in  so  far  as  it  interferes  with  industry,  as  it  must  be 
evident  that  all  money  so  misspent  might  have  been 
used  to  develop  or  foster  trade  and  so  increase  the  food 
supply  or  augment  the  purchasing  power  of  the  labour- 
ing classes.  If  a  farmer,  for  instance,  spends  his  in- 
come on  alcohol,  or  racing,  or  buying  unnecessary 
horses,  which  ought  to  have  been  devoted  to  manuring 
and  working  his  land  and  thereby  securing  larger 
crops,  he  is  not  only  injuring  himself  by  misspending 
it  and  in  diminishing  his  own  income  from  the  land,  but 
he  is  reducing  the  food  supplies  which  it  ought  to  be 
his  aim  to  augment  to  the  fullest  possible  extent. 

We  thus  see  how  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  under 
present  conditions  to  consider  his  wealth  as  a  trust  to 
be  devoted  to  his  own  highest  good  and  that  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  the  society  in  which  he  lives,  as  by 
misspending  he  is  interfering  with  the  purchasing  power 
and  even  the  food  of  the  workers  of  the  land,  who  in 
the  first  place  produce  wealth  by  labouring  the  soil, 
which  is  the  primary  source  of  all  wealth. 

Some  unthinking  people  among  reformers  at  the 
present  time — we  think  it  is  a  cry  of  the  more  advanced 
of  the  Syndicalist  party  in  England — are  demanding  the 
control  of  the  industries  by  the  workmen,  who  would 
work  them  for  their  own  private  gain  without  regard 
to  parliamentary  control.  Parliament  is  too  slow  for 
them,  and  they  mean  to  anticipate  governmental 
action  and  act  independently  of  its  controlling  power. 
Such  a  state  of  matters  is  unthinkable  ;  it  means  chaos, 
and  can  only  end  in  disaster  to  themselves.  It  is  quite 


The  Ideal  State  287 

impossible  to  imagine  the  working  of  a  great  industrial 
concern  depending  upon  the  governmental  machine 
of  a  great  nation  for  its  own  security  and  protection, 
and  for  the  regulation  of  the  food  supply  and  safety  of 
the  homes  and  physical  well-being  of  the  workers,  un- 
less its  own  actions  and  proceedings  are  controlled  in 
similar  fashion  by  the  central  Parliament.  There  must 
always  be  a  central,  controlling,  guiding  body  maintain- 
ing the  scheme  of  government  and  securing  the  method 
which  the  common  sense  and  ethical  development  of 
the  people  have  decided  shall  be  the  rule  of  life  and 
conduct.  No  doubt  in  such  a  State  it  is  inconceivable 
that  compulsion  would  be  necessary,  as  all  men  shall 
have  come  to  realise  the  beauty  and  delight  of  the 
altruistic  life ;  but  in  order,  particularly  in  the  earlier 
phases  of  evolution,  to  guard  against  chaos  or  tumults, 
or  failure  in  individual  cases  to  conform  to  the  ideals  of 
the  State,  a  central  body  must  always  be  maintained. 

A  barter  system  may  require  to  come  into  force 
during  the  transition  period  until  the  evolution  shall 
have  attained  to  completion,  but  such  a  system  would 
be  difficult  to  control,  and  jealousies  would  tend  to 
arise  as  to  the  amount  of  goods  to  be  given  for  so  much 
work  done.  The  progress  of  the  altruistic  tempera- 
ment would  solve  this  difficulty  very  soon. 

In  a  country  such  as  our  own,  with  steamships  and 
colonies  which  can  provide  all  our  needs,  it  would  be 
comparatively  easy  to  secure  our  food  supply  and  raw 
material  without  purchase  or  expenditure  of  money, 
but  these  could  not  be  secured  in  a  country  without 
colonies  and  supplies  of  their  own.  In  such  a  case  no 
doubt  the  State  would  require  gold  to  pay  for  these, 
and  would  require  to  raise  money  by  taxation  of  the 
people  in  order  to  go  on.  In  such  circumstances  the 
abolition  of  the  gold  standard  could  not  be  accom- 
plished until  territory  was  conceded  to  this  particular 


288  The  Ideal  State 

State  by  some  other  which  had  more  than  was  necessary 
for  its  own  requirements,  and  desired  to  enable  it  to 
secure  the  benefits  of  its  own  system  without  such 
effete  methods  as  taxation  and  the  raising  of  money. 
An  act  such  as  this  could  only  be  prompted  by  the  in- 
spiration of  the  ideal,  and  no  doubt  it  would.  The 
desire  of  the  ideal  state  would  be  to  extend  its  blessings 
over  the  whole  earth,  and  would  never  rest  until  this 
had  been  accomplished.  Only  then  shall  we  attain  to 
the  ideal  man  in  the  ideal  world.  In  thinking  over  this 
matter  it  has  often  appeared  to  me  that  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  missionary  is  intended  not  only  to  secure  the 
happiness  of  those  converted  to  the  Christian  faith  in  a 
future  world,  but  consciously  or  unconsciously  it  is  the 
means  by  which  the  social  betterment  of  mankind  will 
be  attained,  with  the  ultimate  realisation  of  the  ideal 
state  ;  we  see,  in  faith,  the  approach  of  the  poet's 
dream — "  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the 
world."  If  this  is  ever  to  be  attained,  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  man  professing  Christianity  to  do  all  that  in  him 
lies  to  bring  about  the  glorious  consummation  of  the 
ascendancy  of  the  altruism  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
among  all  nations  and  peoples  and  tongues.  We  have 
been  told  in  the  colonies  that  Christianity  demoralises 
the  negro  and  makes  him  less  fit  to  be  a  servant  to  the 
white  man.  After  much  study  and  reflection  we  have  no 
hesitation  in  classifying  this  as  a  prejudiced  statement. 
In  many  instances  the  methods  of  the  missionary  may 
be  wrong.  For  instance,  in  the  present  stage  of  their 
civilisation  it  is  a  mistake  to  tell  the  negro  that  he  is 
the  white  man's  equal  in  the  sight  of  God,  for  this  state- 
ment conveys  an  entirely  different  meaning  to  his  mind 
from  that  which  the  missionary  intends.  He  should 
be  told  very  little  dogma,  and  that  of  the  simplest,  for 
he  cannot  comprehend  it.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity— 
the  Three  in  One,  and  the  One  in  Three — is  not  for  him 


The  Ideal  State  289 

at  his  present  stage  of  non-ethical  existence :  the 
Fatherhood  of  the  Eternal,  the  law  of  righteousness, 
and  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  with  their  idealisation  of 
love  and  self-sacrifice,  are  all  he  requires,  and  by  con- 
tinued reiteration  and  absorption  can  only  result  in  a 
gradual  uplifting  of  the  race.  First  and  foremost,  it 
ought  to  be  emphasised  that  religion  is  conduct,  and 
that  profession  of  faith  without  a  righteous  life  is  an 
absolute  contradiction.  This  necessitates  on  the  part 
of  the  white  man  the  same  rule  of  life,  otherwise  the 
black  can  only  conclude  it  is  a  mere  garment  of 
hypocrisy,  and  refuse  to  be  guided  by  it  as  a  conse- 
quence. In  South  Africa  the  Kaffir  is  a  very  intelligent 
man  :  he  is  forming  syndicates  and  taking  large  farms, 
requiring,  in  one  instance  at  least,  a  capital  of  five  thou- 
sand pounds  ;  he  is  learning  all  the  trades  and  is  fast 
becoming  a  skilled  mechanic.1  As  many  have  said  to 
me :  What  does  this  mean,  seeing  there  are  9,000,000 
Kaffirs  to  1,000,000  white  men  in  the  South  African 
colonies  ?  It  means  that,  as  the  white  man  is  not  there 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  carry  on  the  skilled  trades  and 
work  the  soil,  one  day  the  Kaffir  will  oust  the  white 
man.  This  is  very  likely  to  prove  true.  How  necessary 
it  is  then,  that  instead  of  sneering  at  missionaries  and 
running  counter  to  them  in  every  way,  and  refusing  to 
help  the  cause  of  the  religion  we  profess,  we  should  do 
everything  in  our  power  to  help  the  only  cause  which 
will  regenerate  the  lives  of  these  future  masters  of  the 
country,  and  gradually  uplift  them  to  a  higher  plane, 
so  that  they  may  act  in  no  vindictive  spirit,  but  in 
that  of  the  altruism  of  Jesus,  thinking  only  of  the  wel- 
fare of  their  fellow-men. 

To  progress  on  these  lines  we  shall  require  to  alter  our 
ideas  of  patriotism  which  have  held  sway  over  men's 

1  There  are  already  two  Kaffirs  practising  as  barristers  in  the 
High  Court  of  Pretoria. 


290  The  Ideal  State 

minds  for  a  long  period  of  time  :  no  doubt  it  fulfilled  a 
great  purpose  in  the  past,  but  to-day  its  tendency  is  to 
smother  the  interests  of  humanity.  The  boundary  of 
a  country  is  an  artificial  thing,  and  we  are  too  apt  to 
extol  the  merits  of  the  people  on  one  side,  and  decry 
those  on  the  other  side.  How  much  better  that  we 
should  all  act  for  the  betterment  of  the  men  and  women 
of  all  countries,  and  not  with  the  selfish  view  of  bene- 
fiting only  those  of  our  own.  This  no  doubt  will  be  the 
last  phase  of  the  ideal  state,  and  then  the  whole  earth 
shall  behold  the  rule  of  the  law  of  Righteousness  and 
Love,  and  individual  possession,  like  many  another 
fetish  of  the  past,  like  many  another  evidence  of  the 
foolishness  of  men,  shall  have  passed  to  the  limbo  of 
forgotten  things.  All  a  dream  !  you  say.  Alas  !  it 
may  be,  but  we  think  not,  and  have  given  many  strong 
and  powerful  reasons  for  this  faith  and  hope.  The 
world  can  never  certainly  be  so  miserable  under  a  reign 
of  self-denial  as  it  has  been  under  that  of  its  opposite. 
The  rich  have  accumulated  only  pain,  even  for  them- 
selves ;  money  has  not  brought  good  in  its  train  as  they 
had  hoped  and  believed  ;  all  this  wretchedness — this 
dead-sea  fruit — will  be  eliminated ;  all  will  have  enough, 
and  the  cry  of  the  poor  and  the  needy  will  be  heard  no 
more. 

We  must  now  consider  a  very  ancient  evil,  for  which 
the  cure  can  only  come  effectively  through  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  lust  for  gold  and  the  power  of  money,  and 
that  is  the  white  slave  traffic.  That  is  how  we  know  it 
in  the  country  of  the  white  man,  but  in  some  of  our 
Protectorates  the  name  of  the  black  slave  traffic  might 
be  more  appropriate.  In  the  latter,  however,  prostitu- 
tion does  not  exist  ;  it  is  rather  a  system  of  concubin- 
age, and  is  certainly  not  attended  by  anything  like  the 
misery,  suffering,  disease,  and  early  death  which  accom- 
pany this  canker  of  the  body  politic  in  the  countries  in 


The  Ideal  State  291 

the  van  of  civilisation.  Miss  Jane  Addams  has  brought 
out  a  remarkable  book  on  this  subject,  and  she  calls  it 
"  A  New  Conscience  and  an  Ancient  Evil."  She  shows 
forth  the  awfulness  of  this  traffic  ;  the  deceit  used 
to  trap  young  girls  into  it,  who,  ignorant  in  many 
instances  of  the  most  elementary  matters  of  sex, 
become  an  easy  prey ;  the  insignificant  salary  which 
young  women  receive  in  many  establishments  forcing 
them  to  seek  other  means  to  augment  their  income  so 
as  to  have  any  security  of  lodging  or  any  ordinary 
comfort  in  life  ;  and  the  impetus  given  to  the  traffic 
by  alcohol.  As  General  Bingham,  formerly  Police 
Commissioner  of  New  York,  says  :  "  There  is  not 
sufficient  depravity  in  human  nature  to  keep  alive  this 
very  large  business.  The  immorality  of  women  and  the 
brutishness  of  men  have  to  be  persuaded,  coaxed,  and 
stimulated  in  order  to  keep  the  social  evil  in  its  present 
state  of  business  prosperity."  This  would  show  that, 
without  the  evil  stimulus  of  alcohol,  chastity  and  self- 
control  possess  men  and  women  much  more  than  is 
at  present  understood.  The  desire  for  purity  is  of  the 
essence  of  the  soul,  and  when  this  is  nourished  by  the 
love  and  self-sacrifice  of  Christian  ethics  it  becomes  a 
potent  force  in  the  direction  of  abatement  of  this  ever- 
present  evil. 

The  Vice  Commission  appointed  by  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Chicago  reports  that  "  prostitution  in 
the  city  is  a  commercial  business,  controlled  largely  by 
men,  and  producing  a  profit  of  more  than  three  millions 
sterling  a  year."  The  number  of  women  engaged  in 
it  is  approximately  five  thousand.  As  A.  J.  Allen 
says  in  a  recent  number  of  the  "  Church  Quarterly 
Review  "  :  "  The  annual  revenue  of  three  millions  a 
year  profit  made  by  men  frohi  the  moral  and  physical 
damnation  of  five  thousand  women  is  probably  one 
of  the  very  blackest  spots  on  the  escutcheon  of  any  city, 


292  The  Ideal  State 

almost  enough  to  justify  the  laconic  description  given 
by  a  visitor  to  the  Great  Lake  City  :  '  Chicago  is  hell/  ' 
This  description  would,  sad  it  is  to  tell,  apply  to  many 
great  cities  of  the  world — with  certain  modifications. 
Now  this  terrible  state  of  matters  is  the  result  of  one 
cause  only — the  lust  for  gold.  Men  find  in  it  an  easy 
livelihood,  or  even  affluence;  and  when  stranded  through 
the  committal  of  some  offence  which  bars  the  way  to 
future  employment  they  take  up  this  awful  traffic  as  a 
ready  means  of  subsistence,  and  associate  with  it  the 
gambling  den  and  the  drinking  saloon.  But  men  are 
not  alone  to  be  condemned  :  it  is  only  recently  that 
men  have  taken  up  this  foul  business  :  women  were  at 
one  time  the  sole,  as  they  are  now  partially  the  pro- 
curers of  our  white  slaves,1  whom  Lecky  calls  "  the 
most  mournful  and  awful  figure  in  history,  who  remains 
while  creeds  and  civilisations  rise  and  fall,  the  eternal 
sacrifice  of  humanity,  blasted  for  the  sins  of  the  people." 
Miss  Addams  argues  that  this  evil  will  only  be 
remedied  by  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to  women. 
This  is  unfair  and  un j  ust .  In  England  it  was  W.  T.  Stead 
who  took  up  the  cause  and  sacrificed  himself,  suffer- 
ing no  end  of  obloquy  and  slander,  but  who  by  his 
action  secured  the  passing  of  the  Criminal  Law  Amend- 
ment Bill.  It  is  doubtful  if  women  would  be  joining  in 
the  cry  now  but  for  the  valiant  efforts  of  Stead,  that 
noble  man  who  moulded  his  life  upon  that  of  his 
Master,  and  did  more  for  the  reign  of  righteousness  and 
self-denial  than  any  other  of  his  generation.  An  Act  of 
greater  power  has  recently  become  law,  and  will  do 
much  to  control  and  ultimately  smash  the  traffic.  The 
altruism  of  Christianity  moulding  the  thoughts  and 
lives  of  men  will  cure  this  malady  of  the  body  politic 
— not  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  women.  This 

1  Just  recently  an  aunt  got  five  years'  penal  servitude  for  trying 
to  "  procure  "  her  own  niece  in  London, 


The  Ideal  State  293 

the  wives  and  mothers  of  the  nation  know  very  well, 
•end  that  men  are  much  more  able  to  secure  all  such 
reforms  than  they  are  themselves. 

Medical  men  have  for  long  tried  to  establish  the 
State  regulation  of  vice,  which  would  have  cured  and 
prevented  disease  which  has  wrought  such  havoc  to 
innocent  women  and  children,  and  would  eventu- 
ally have  reduced  prostitution  to  the  lowest  possible 
limit.  Reform  of  this  nature  has  been  prevented  by 
agitation  on  the  part  of  people  unable  to  appreciate 
facts,  with  the  result  of  continual  increase  of  the  very 
evil  they  wish  to  remove. 

Acts  of  Parliament  are  very  useful  things,  but  they 
will  never  accomplish  the  final  destruction  of  vice  of 
this  nature.  Its  ultimate  destruction  will  only  come 
with  a  universal  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  as  the  law  of  life, 
and  the  removal  of  the  great  temptation  to  acquire  gain 
by  the  abolition  of  the  gold  standard,  and  consequently 
the  power  of  acquiring  riches  by  means  of  the  foulest 
and  most  degrading  traffic  known  to  our  civilisation. 
In  the  meantime  it  must  be  dealt  with  drastically  and 
without  fear ;  and,  coincidentally,  gambling  dens  must 
be  summarily  swept  away  and  the  liquor  traffic  rigidly 
controlled  by  Government,  and  drunkenness  in  every 
case  punished  by  detention,  the  period  of  imprisonment 
to  be  increased  according  to  the  number  of  offences. 

But  we  must  go  further.  Presuming  that  popula- 
tion increases  to  the  utmost  limit  of  the  food  supply, 
and  that  the  gold  standard  and  private  property 
has  been  abolished ;  in  such  circumstances  the 
young  men  and  women  will  wish  to  marry.  If  they 
all  do  so,  how  is  the  growth  of  the  population  be- 
yond the  means  of  subsistence  to  be  prevented  ? 
As  has  been  proved,  the  population  at  present 
is  controlled  by  the  labour  market ;  a  man  does 
not  marry  until  he  has  acquired  sufficient  to  enable 


294  The  Ideal  State 

him  in  his  degree  to  marry  ;  when  the  barrier  of  the 
want  of  the  means  of  subsistence  is  removed,  what  is 
there  to  prevent  him  satisfying  his  desires  in  this 
respect  ?  Undoubtedly  we  have  a  very  difficult 
problem  before  us  here,  but  it  is  not  insoluble  to  the 
believer  in  the  spiritual  evolution  of  society.  The  State 
would  undoubtedly  do  everything  in  its  power  to 
regulate  marriage.  In  our  own  time  the  age  of  inci- 
dence of  marriage,  particularly  among  the  professional 
and  more  highly  educated  classes,  has  been  gradually 
extending,  and  in  all  probability  this  would  be  extended 
and  fixed  by  statute  in  order  to  enable  men  and  women 
in  the  most  active  period  of  their  lives  to  do  work  for 
the  State,  always  provided  the  limit  of  age  was  not  so 
advanced  as  to  affect  the  physical  welfare  of  the  child. 
A  certain  number  from  motives  of  pure  altruism  would 
desire  to  remain  unmarried  ;  others  would  be  pre- 
vented altogether  from  marrying  by  the  State,  and 
would  readily  acquiesce,  as  all  are  trained  to  do  in  every 
measure  devised  for  the  advantage  of  the  people  and 
the  generations  who  are  to  succeed.  The  further  ques- 
tion we  have  to  answer  is :  Would  those  compelled  to 
remain  unmarried  be  able  to  exert  sufficient  self- 
control  to  prevent  the  creation  of  some  such  traffic  as 
that  with  which  we  have  to  deal  to-day  ?  In  answer 
we  can  only  point  out  that  in  such  an  advanced  state 
of  spiritual  evolution,  and  with  no  temptation  to 
private  gain,  such  developments  common  to  our  earlier 
civilisation  will  not  only  be  impossible,  but  unthink- 
able. We  are  well  aware  that  we  are  dealing  with  one  of 
the  most  powerful  primeval  instincts,  and  one  which  is 
absolutely  essential  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  species, 
and  know  the  difficulty  of  asserting  that  impulse  to 
vice  would  cease  to  exist,  but  we  can  only  contend  that 
it  would  be  effectually  prevented  in  the  highest  state  of 
evolution  attainable  to  man  by  self-control  and  the 


The  Ideal  State  295 


ever-present  desire  to  save  others  from  suffering  of  any 
kind. 

The  abolition  of  the  gold  standard  and  the  conse- 
quent impossibility  of  gratifying  the  desire  of  gain 
would  ere  long  result  in  the  complete  annihilation  of 
greed  or  the  vice  of  acquisitiveness.  Through  disuse, 
one  of  the  morbid  developments  of  a  primeval  instinct 
would  cease  to  exist.  And  with  its  extinction  there 
would  largely  disappear  the  "  impulse  unto  crime  "  ; 
theft  and  burglary  would  die  from  want  of  incentive, 
and  our  prisons  and  penal  settlements  would  rapidly 
empty.  With  the  State  regulation  of  the  sale  of  al- 
cohol, and  at  a  further  stage  its  total  prohibition,  the 
present  incentives  would  cease  to  operate  altogether. 
Any  criminal  developments  which  might  appear  would 
be  of  the  nature  of  insane  impulses,  requiring  treat- 
ment in  our  mental  hospitals.  A  gradual  diminution  of 
the  inmates  of  these  institutions  would  be  a  certain 
result  of  a  perfect  environment,  not  only  from  the 
purely  material  and  physical  condition  of  things,  but 
the  spirit  of  love  everywhere  pervading  would  create 
an  atmosphere  of  joy  and  peace  which  would  bring  rest 
to  the  souls  of  the  weary  and  distraught.  Two  of  the 
chief  causes  of  lunacy  are  alcohol  and  syphilis  ;  as  we 
have  indicated,  both  are  preventable  by  strong  legisla- 
tive enactment,  and  when  once  this  has  been  accom- 
plished we  will  be  entitled  to  look  for  a  reduction  of  at 
least  fifty  per  cent  in  the  number  of  our  insane.  Of  the 
remainder — occurring  in  people  of  neurotic  tempera- 
ment who  have  suffered  from  disease  such  as  influenza, 
which  has  a  marked  depressant  effect  on  the  nervous 
system — we  can  look  forward  to  the  elimination  of  all 
such.  The  admirable  environment  which  we  have 
secured  for  all,  and  the  consideration  extended  to 
everyone  suffering  from  nerve  strain  or  exhaustion, 
the  removal  of  anxiety  as  to  ways  and  means,  and 


The  Ideal  State 

of  necessity  to  keep  on  working  when  weighed  down 
by  illness,  would  in  time  effectually  cure  all  such  ten- 
dencies. Moreover,  the  bright  outlook  which  the 
spiritual  evolution  brings  with  it  would  be  a  potent 
force  in  the  prevention  of  alj  tendency  to  depression, 
and  would  dispel  the  gloom  of  melancholy  which  at 
the  present  day  settles  down  on  many  a  weary  soul. 
We  make,  therefore,  bold  to  state  that  in  the  further 
evolution  of  mankind  we  can  look  forward  without 
fear  to  the  ultimate  elimination  of  these  blots  upon 
our  civilisation — the  criminal  and  the  insane. 

The  soul  of  man  is  essentially  good  and  not  evil. 
This  is  not  in  accord  with  the  orthodox  belief  in  original 
sin,  but  we  are  entitled  to  consider  that  as  only  a 
priestly  doctrine  inculcated  as  a  necessary  preliminary 
to  the  soul's  salvation.  When  Carlyle  said  that  might 
was  right,  he  meant  that  Right  is  always  the  strong 
thing,  the  thing  that  conquers,  because  it  is  in  harmony 
with  the  Eternal — with  the  Ultimate  Reality  or  Abso- 
lute Mind.  The  heart  of  the  Eternal  is  good  ;  His  law 
is  righteous,  and  it  is  only  when  man  gets  into  harmony 
with  it  that  he  is  strong — that  it  is  well  with  him. 
Hegel  meant  the  same  thing  when  he  gave  expression 
to  the  thought — "  The  real  is  the  ideal."  When  you 
get  to  the  real  man — the  essential  nature  of  man — you 
find  it  will  only  be  content  with  the  Good — with  the 
ideal.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  however,  that  in  most 
men  it  is  the  surface-nature — the  unreal  part  of  him, 
the  accidental,  we  may  call  it — that  speaks  loudest. 
As  man  is  at  present,  it  would  seem  that  Evil  is  most 
congenial  to  his  nature.  Lord  Haldane  writes  in  the 
"  Pathway  to  Reality  "  :  "  Man  has  a  double  nature, 
out  of  which  arises  for  him,  on  the  one  hand  the  con- 
sciousness of  separation  from  God  or  evil ;  on  the  other, 
potential  union  with  God  or  religion.  Though  finite 
spirit,  man  is  none  the  less  spirit ;  consequently  he  is 


The  Ideal  State  297 

essentially  free  and  therefore  responsible."  We  have 
here  a  concrete  statement  of  man's  essential  nature 
which  must  be  borne  in  mind  throughout  the  whole  of 
this  argument.  How,  then,  do  we  explain  man's 
preference  for  evil  ?  How  is  it  that  dirt  and  ugliness 
seem  most  congenial  to  many  people  ?  It  is  without 
doubt  due  to  the  fact  that  their  circumstances — an  evil 
environment — have  habituated  them  to  the  bad.  They 
have  never  known  the  better,  and  therefore  they 
assimilate  the  inferior.  They  are  unwillingly  deprived 
of  the  better  environment,  and  as  long  as  they  adhere 
to  the  evil  their  nature  is  divided  against  itself.  The 
unwillingness  may  not  have  risen  into  clear  conscious- 
ness, but  it  is  seen  in  the  unhappiness  that  comes  from 
the  division  in  their  life.  If  we  looked  merely  to  man's 
nature  as  it  appears  on  the  surface,  it  would  be  quite  as 
true  to  say  that  it  is  essentially  bad.  A  contradiction 
of  this  kind  is  found  in  every  creature  undergoing 
evolution.  If  you  take  it  at  any  particular  stage  there 
is  always  much  in  its  actual  condition  that  is  alien  to 
its  real  nature  and  ultimate  end. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  demonstrate  here  that  "  crime  " 
is  almost  invariably  the  result  of  a  bad  environment. 
That  is  why  the  criminal  classes  are  to  be  found  largely 
in  the  slums  of  our  big  cities ;  and  with  the  amelioration 
of  social  conditions  and  better  surroundings  we  know 
that  crime  will  suffer  gradual  diminution.  But  thus  far 
we  must  realise  we  have  only  made  a  beginning.  Man 
has  still  to  fight  the  cravings  of  the  flesh,  and  most  of 
all  "  greed  " — the  vice  of  acquisitiveness — the  morbid 
development  of  the  primeval  instinct  of  self-preserva- 
tion. It  is  a  necessity  of  existence  that  he  must  seek 
food  and  housing,  but  when  he  makes  it  his  aim  to 
acquire  more  than  he  needs,  and  seeks  after  "  many 
possessions,"  then  the  natural  instinct  becomes  a  vice, 
and  the  essential  nature — the  spirit — "  though  finite 


298 


The  Ideal  State 


.  .  .  none  the  less  spirit  " — is  obscured  and  submerged. 
But  the  spirit  of  man — his  inner  and  true  nature — 
is  essentially  free,  and  man  himself  is  therefore  re- 
sponsible. It  therefore  rests  with  himself  to  rise  above 
the  merely  surface  nature — the  "  cloak  of  self,"  "  the 
carnal  mesh,"  "  the  muddy  vesture  of  decay,"  as  it  has 
been  so  aptly  termed  by  some  of  the  great  and  good  of 
the  past — and  give  full  play  to  the  essential  good  in 
him — the  soul  or  spirit — by  means  of  which  he  acquires 
potential  union  with  God.  Man  is  miserable  when  he 
does  evil  because  it  is  foreign  to  his  real  nature.  We 
will  do  well  to  recall  here  some  of  the  utterances  of  the 
greatest  of  modern  prophets.  In  "  Sartor  Resartus  "  l 
we  read :  "  Well  did  the  wisest  of  our  time  write  ! 
It  is  only  with  Renunciation  that  Life,  properly  speak- 
ing, can  be  said  to  begin."  .  .  .  "  Art  thou  nothing  other 
than  a  Vulture  then,  that  fliest  through  the  Universe, 
seeking  after  somewhat  to  eat  ;  and  shrieking  dolefully 
because  carrion  enough  is  not  given  thee  ?  Close  thy 
Byron;  open  thy  Goethe."  .  .  .  "  Es  leuchtet  mir  ein :  I 
see  a  glimpse  of  it ;  there  is  in  man  a  higher  than  love 
of  Happiness :  he  can  do  without  happiness,  and  instead 
thereof  find  Blessedness.  Was  it  not  to  preach  forth 
this  same  Higher  that  sages  and  martyrs,  the  Poet  and 
the  Priest,  in  all  times,  have  spoken  and  suffered ; 
bearing  testimony  through  life  and  through  death  of  the 
God-like  that  is  in  Man,  and  how  in  the  God-like  only 
has  he  strength  and  freedom  ?  Which  God-inspired 
doctrine  art  thou  also  honoured  to  be  taught ;  O, 
Heavens  !  and  broken  with  manifold  merciful  afflic- 
tions, even  till  thou  become  contrite,  and  learn  it  !  O 
thank  thy  destiny  for  these  ;  thankfully  bear  what  yet 
remain  :  thou  hadst  need  of  them  ;  the  self  in  thee 
needed  to  be  annihilated.  By  benignant  fever-par- 
oxysms is  Life  rooting  out  the  deep-seated  chronic 
1  The  everlasting  Yea,  Chapter  IX,  "  Sartor  Resartus." 


The  Ideal  State  299 

Disease  and  triumphs  over  Death.  On  the  roaring 
billows  of  Time,  thou  are  not  engulfed,  but  borne  aloft 
into  the  azure  of  Eternity.  Love  not  pleasure  ;  love 
God.  This  is  the  everlasting  Yea,  wherein  all  contra- 
diction is  solved  ;  wherein  whoso  walks  and  works  it 
is  well  with  him." 

Again,  we  must  put  to  ourselves  another  question.  If 
men  find  blessedness  in  the  Good,  why  do  they  so 
universally  choose  the  Evil  ?  As  was  said  before, 
environment  accounts  for  much.  "  We  needs  must  love 
the  highest  when  we  see  it,"  and  it  is  therefore  our  duty 
to  bring  the  highest  within  the  reach  of  all  by  means  of 
a  perfect  physical,  intellectual,  and  ethical  environ- 
ment. Further,  we  know  that  the  mists  of  passion 
obscure  the  mental  and  spiritual  vision.  These  will 
come  more  and  more  under  control  when  men  uni- 
versally attain  to  realisation  of  the  true  self  by  means 
of  the  renunciation  of  the  baser  elements  ;  and  this 
must  follow  the  permeation  of  men's  minds  with  the 
altruism  of  Jesus'  thoughts  and  teaching. 

We  must  further  ask  :  Is  it  the  case  that  men  are 
miserable  in  doing  evil  if  their  evil  is  successful  ?  We 
know  that  the  best  minds  of  the  past  and  the  present 
say  they  are.  With  success  and  a  good  digestion  a  man 
may  have  little  misery  over  his  wrong-doing  for  a  long 
time,  but  ultimately  his  real  nature,  his  true  self,  will 
speak,  not  in  the  next  world,  but  here.  But  even  if  it 
did  not,  the  argument  remains  as  strong  as  ever,  for 
the  men  who  are  most  fully  men — who,  by  common 
consent,  have  reached  nearest  the  ideal  of  manhood, 
who  have  seen  the  beauty  and  feel  the  peace  of  the 
good — would  look  and  do  look  upon  the  fate  of  such  a 
man  as  the  most  miserable  of  all.  He  is  so  false  to  his 
higher  nature  that  he  has  almost  ceased  to  recognise 
the  fact.  Whenever  a  man  gets  into  the  region  of  the 
true  in  thought,  the  beautiful  in  Art  or  Nature,  and 


300  The  Ideal  State 


the  noble  in  deed,  even  although  they  demand  sacrifices 
of  him,  he  knows  and  he  says  :  "  It  is  good  for  me  to 
be  here."  They  are  so  congenial  to  his  nature  that  he 
never  can  again  be 'satisfied  with  the  inferior.  So  much 
is  this  the  case  that  those  who  are  best  acquainted  with 
the  Good  declare  with  one  voice  that  it  is  better  to 
have  it  with  suffering  than  to  have  the  whole  world 
without  it — that  is  the  meaning  of  "  gaining  one's 
own  soul." 

To  pursue  the  argument,  we  are  entitled  to  say  that 
society  supports  the  belief  in  the  essential  good  of  man's 
nature  in  the  punishment  inflicted  on  those  who  do 
evil.  But  it  is  fortunate  that  in  European  countries 
we  are  beginning  to  pay  heed  to  the  idea  of  reform  in 
punishment.  We  are  coming  to  see  that  punishment 
that  does  not  reform  is  sheer  brutality.  The  very  fact 
that  society  punishes  evil  shows  that  men  have  got  the 
conviction  from  experience — and  from  experience  be- 
cause the  Divine  is  immanent  within  them — that  evil 
is  anti-social — that  man's  nature  is  such  that  it  hurts 
him — that  it  is  the  enemy.  If  it  were  not,  they  would 
not  punish  evil  at  all.  It  has  been  said  that  society 
punishes  not  from  any  interest  in  the  Good,  but  from 
interest  in  self — in  pure  selfish  protection  of  its  in- 
dividual interests.  It  must  be  admitted  that  this  does 
affect  the  question,  but  it  could  not  be  otherwise  in  our 
state  of  society,  which  is  so  largely  controlled  by 
present-day  material  interests.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  this  just  proves  that  man's  nature  is  such 
that  it  is  his  interest  to  crush  the  Evil  and  cultivate  the 
Good.  In  the  "Ideal  State"  the  aim  of  punishment  must 
be  more  and  more  to  reform  the  evildoer  and  get  rid  of 
the  Evil ;  and  much  more  attention  must  be  given  to 
prevention  than  to  punishment.  Dickens — one  of  the 
greatest  of  benefactors  of  the  poor  and  the  afflicted — 
pointed  out  long  ago  that  the  first  time  the  Government 


The  Ideal  State  301 

thinks  it  is  its  duty  to  take  account  of  the  wretched  is 
when  they  have  committed  a  crime.  He  asks  if  the 
judges  and  others  had  no  duty  to  them  before  that  ? 
Since  his  time  we  have  endeavoured  to  do  something. 
We  try  to  educate  them  and  give  them  a  better  chance ; 
but  in  the  present  state  of  society  it  is  a  very  slow  pro- 
cess of  betterment.  Multitudes  are  still  brought  up  in 
an  atmosphere  of  evil  and  trained  to  crime,  in  semi- 
starvation  and  foul  dwellings  ;  and  it  is  only  when  they 
commit,  what  we  consider,  some  flagrant  act  of  evil, 
that  we  take  an  active  interest  in  them,  and  once  we 
commit  them  to  prison  we  are  satisfied  in  the  thought 
that  there  our  duty  ends.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is 
there  our  duty  begins.  If  we  consider  their  circum- 
stances there  is  room  for  infinite  compassion,  which  can 
only  be  satisfied  when  every  means  have  been  taken  to 
remove  some  of  the  causes.  The  bad  environment 
must  first  be  seen  to,  and  we  are  glad  to  think  is  being 
seen  to.  The  possibility  of  work  for  every  man  and  a 
living  wage  in  return  is  another  necessary  reform.  It 
will  then  be  possible  to  deal  effectively  with  the 
"  Weary  Willies  "  and  the  "  Won't  works."  The 
further  progress  of  the  spiritual  evolution  of  man  must 
necessarily  ultimately  remove  all  crime,  not  only  by 
raising  the  whole  standard  of  being  but  by  removing 
any  motive  which  could  act  as  an  impulse  towards  evil. 
These  same  influences  must  ere  long  teach  us  that  in 
punishment  there  is  little  satisfaction  either  to  society 
or  to  the  offender.  Its  only  justification  can  be  that  the 
period  of  detention  is  used  as  a  means  to  re-awaken  the 
higher  nature  of  the  prisoner — to  show  him  the  direc- 
tion in  which  true  happiness  lies,  and  take  every 
possible  means  to  prove  to  him  that  society  is  not  his 
enemy  but  his  friend  ;  that  his  fellow-men  love  him 
and  only  desire  to  do  him  good  and  get  good  from  him. 
And  to  do  this  he  must  have  a  sound  environment  from 


302  The  Ideal  State 

every  point  of  view,  and  every  endeavour  made  to  raise 
him  intellectually  and  morally. 

In  actual  practice  it  ought  to  be  stated  whenever  it 
becomes  apparent  that  the  criminal  acts  are  the  out- 
come of  mental  disease — acute  or  chronic — such  cases 
can  only  be  benefited  in  our  hospitals  for  the  insane ; 
and  where  it  is  evident  the  disease  is  incurable,  it  is 
clear  that  a  return  of  the  individual  to  society  becomes 
impossible.  All  such  cases  in  our  ideal  state  must 
of  necessity  become  less  and  less,  and  be  finally  ex- 
tinguished under  a  perfect  environment  physically, 
intellectually,  and  spiritually. 

Socialism  has  been  defined  as  the  nationalisation  of 
all  the  means  of  production,  distribution,  and  exchange. 
If  a  definition  is  required  for  the  principle  upon  which 
the  "ideal  state"  is  to  be  conducted  and  maintained,  we 
believe  this  is  as  exact  and  comprehensive  as  any  which 
can  be  formulated.  We  do  not  for  a  moment  imagine 
that  such  a  means  of  conducting  the  affairs  of  our 
nation  could  be  adopted  and  put  into  action  immedi- 
ately ;  it  must  be  a  gradual  process,  and  legislation 
must  lead  up  to  its  accomplishment  by  easy  stages  ; 
there  must  not  be  too  sudden  rupture  with  the  tradition 
of  the  past;  otherwise  we  return  to  chaos,  and  bring 
"  confusion  worse  confounded  "  and  delay  the  wheel 
of  progress,  maybe,  for  centuries.  It  will  require  as  a 
necessary  accompaniment,  without  which  it  is  im- 
possible, the  continuously  higher  ethical  evolution  of 
man's  nature.  Notwithstanding  the  many  sad  facts, 
the  awful  extent  of  misery  and  vice  prevalent  in  our 
present  stage  of  civilisation,  we  are  confident  that  such 
an  evolution  is  now  in  process,  and  is  leading  on  towards 
the  glorious  consummation  of  the  "  ideal  state."  In  the 
heart  of  every  member  of  the  community  we  must  do 
everything  to  stimulate  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and 
of  willingness  to  suffer  on  behalf  of  all  with  whom  we 


The  Ideal  State  303 

are  brought  into  contact,  not  only  in  our  own  interest 
and  theirs,  but  with  the  aim  of  helping  the  still  higher 
evolution  of  the  State  in  the  interests  of  the  genera- 
tions who  are  to  come  after  us.  Everything  depends 
on  the  spiritual  evolution  of  man,  and  the  certainty  of 
this  as  the  plan  of  the  Eternal,  and  we  believe  this  to  be 
the  only  conclusion  possible  from  the  study  of  observed 
phenomena  in  the  past  history  of  mankind. 

Even  at  the  present  day  we  have  many  conditions 
existing  which  were  declared  utter  impossibilities.  For 
instance  :  in  the  profession  of  medicine,  any  member 
who  conceals  a  remedy  or  a  means  of  benefiting  mankind 
for  his  own  private  gain  is  looked  upon  as  an  outcast, 
and  is  treated  as  such.  He  is  at  once  ejected  from  his 
college  or  university.  Everyone  imbued  with  the  true 
spirit  of  his  profession  derives  more  than  sufficient 
compensation  from  the  fact  that  he  has  been  able  to 
reduce  the  sum  of  human  misery,  and  that  the  work  he 
has  done  has  met  with  the  approbation  of  his  brethren. 
Indeed,  the  members  of  the  profession  who  make  the 
great  discoveries  which  benefit  humanity  are  not  those 
who  become  wealthy  ;  the  most  scientific  members  of 
the  faculty  give  away  willingly  the  fruits  of  their  dis- 
coveries without  any  reward  of  a  monetary  nature. 
At  present,  moreover,  they  are  the  only  profession  who 
give  their  time  and  skill  in  our  hospitals,  dispensaries, 
and  even  privately,  without  reward  in  many  instances. 
It  is  true  that  this  work  may  lead  to  profit,  owing  to  the 
distinction  which  appointment  to  a  hospital  confers  ; 
on  the  other  hand  this  does  not  necessarily  follow,  and 
the  fact  remains  that  no  other  profession  works  as  they 
do  for  humanity  without  return.  It  may  be  well  to 
take  this  opportunity  of  pointing  out  that  the  provoca- 
tion to  revolt  against  the  clauses  of  the  Insurance  Bill 
compelling  work  for  fees  which  were  insufficient  must 
ha.ve  been  considerable.  No  doubt  the  poorest  mem- 


304  The  Ideal  State 

bers  of  the  profession  would  have  benefited,  but  the 
vast  majority  would  have  suffered  from  a  marked 
reduction  of  income — a  most  unjust  procedure  towards 
the  only  men  in  the  State  who  for  long  years  have  given 
a  large  proportion  of  their  services  without  reward  and 
with  the  sole  aim  of  easing  the  pain  and  lifting  the 
burden  of  sorrow  from  the  back  of  poor  suffering  men 
and  women.  So  that  even  at  the  present  day  we  find, 
in  one  profession  at  any  rate,  the  effects  of  the  teach- 
ings of  the  altruism  of  Christianity  and  a  system  at  work 
which  does  not  depend  upon  gold,  and  where  the  gospel 
of  self-sacrifice  is  actually  at  work  moulding  the  actions 
and  lives  of  men.  We  have  here  a  demonstration  of 
such  a  system  as  has  been  forecast  at  work,  and  there- 
fore we  are  encouraged  to  go  forward  without  fear  to 
the  final  accomplishment  and  universal  application  of 
this  principle  of  life  and  conduct  to  all  men  within  the 
State. 

All  the  powers  of  wealth  and  property  are,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  opposed  to  such  an  evolution.  The 
amassing  of  wealth,  the  power  which  it  confers,  the 
privileges  it  secures,  and  the  luxuries  always  within 
call,  are  potent  influences  which  will  not  yield  to  any- 
thing but  overwhelming  odds.  It  is  of  no  avail  to 
demonstrate  to  the  rich  man  the  risks  to  which  he  is 
exposed  in  the  way  of  temptation  to  excess,  and  conse- 
quent degeneracy  and  the  shortening  of  his  days.  It 
is  of  no  avail  to  repeat  the  warning  of  Scripture  :  "It 
is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
It  is  of  no  avail  to  point  out  the  dangers  of  an  environ- 
ment of  luxury  in  the  case  of  his  sons,  and  the  possi- 
bility of  headlong  destruction  in  their  youthful  prime. 
He  is  quite  uninfluenced  by  the  argument  that  the 
amassing  of  riches  is  a  soul-destroying  process  and 
takes  all  the  real  charm  out  of  life,  robbing  it  in  most 


The  Ideal  State  305 

instances  of  the  intellectual  and  the  ideal.  The  fact 
remains  that  even  for  the  rich  it  were  much  better  that 
they  had  never  known  more  than  enough.  It  is  they 
who  never  weary  of  telling  us  that  riches  do  not  bring 
happiness  ;  and  we  know  that  as  often  as  not  they 
bring  misery.  True,  you  say ;  but  have  you  not  been 
telling  us  ad  nauseam  that  it  is  poverty — the  want  of 
riches — which  is  the  cause  of  all  the  misery  among  the 
poor  ?  Yes,  we  reply ;  and  all  that  is  asked  is  that  to 
every  head  of  a  household  shall  be  secured  means  to 
give  all  the  necessary  comforts  of  life  and  sufficient 
leisure  to  devote  to  artistic  or  intellectual  development 
in  exchange  for  a  certain  amount  of  work  to  be  regu- 
lated and  controlled  by  the  State  for  the  best  advantage 
of  all  its  members.  Ultimately,  as  already  stated,  it  is 
hoped  to  reach  the  ideal  of  "  each  for  all  and  all  for 
each,"  when  the  gold  standard  shall  be  non-existent 
and  private  wealth  and  property  a  thing  of  the  past. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  endeavour  to  sum  up  as 
succinctly  as  possible  the  various  ideals  to  be  sought 
after  in  the  higher  evolution  of  the  race.  The  aim  in 
the  first  place  is  that  of  a  perfect  environment — or  as 
near  to  its  attainment  as  possible — for  every  unit 
therein  :  every  child  to  breathe  the  purest  air,  to  have 
the  clothing  most  suitable  to  the  climate  in  which  he 
is  reared,  and  good  food  and  water.  Later,  to  be  helped 
in  every  way  to  acquire  the  culture  of  the  ages,  and 
encouraged  always  in  the  development  of  his  physical 
and  intellectual  faculties,  and  necessarily  coincidently 
his  ethical  faculty  ;  his  personal  inclination  as  well  as 
capacity  to  be  considered  in  deciding  upon  the  labour 
or  profession  best  suited  to  his  individuality. 

All  necessary  requirements  and  comforts  to  be 
secured  for  everyone  ;  these  to  be  fixed  by  committees 
or  sub-committees  of  the  State. 

The  amount  of  work  allocated  to  each  to  be  so 


3o6 


The  Ideal  State 


guarded  that  it  never  goes  beyond  the  strength  of  the 
individual  concerned  ;  and  for  everyone  there  must 
be  sufficient  leisure  to  allow  of  physical  and  intellectual 
culture. 

All  art,  music,  and  drama  to  be  within  the  reach  of 
all ;  all  lectures  and  university  teaching  to  be  free  to 
all  during  times  of  leisure. 

All  men  working  with  their  hands  to  retire  at 
fifty-five  or  sixty  years,  according  to  their  physical 
necessities  ;  all  brain  workers,  such  as  professors  and 
lecturers,  to  retire  at  the  same  age,  but  still  available  in 
giving  counsel  in  regard  to  all  matters  where  their  ripe 
experience  is  likely  to  be  of  benefit. 

The  gold  standard  must  ultimately  be  abolished  of 
necessity.  There  is  no  payment  of  money  wages,  and 
consequently  no  accumulation  of  wealth,  resulting  in 
such  absurd  distinctions  as  those  which  divide  our 
classes  into  rich  and  poor.  There  are  neither  rich  nor 
poor;  all  have  enough  and  all  are  happy.  The  vice 
of  acquisitiveness  has  been  overcome  as  a  result  of  the 
ripe  experience  of  the  past  and  the  altruism  of  Christian 
ethics.  The  aim  of  everyone  is  "to  take  trouble  to 
do  good  to  others,"  finding  thereby  their  own  chief est 
good  and  soul's  satisfaction.  Men  individually  and 
collectively  seek  to  devise  means  to  improve  the  con- 
ditions under  which  succeeding  generations  will  be 
called  upon  to  live. 

"  Eugenics  "  are  an  automatic  result  of  the  improved 
environment  which  from  day  to  day  finds  betterment. 
In  the  meantime  such  an  Act  as  that  recently  before 
the  House  of  Commons  for  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded is  necessary. 

The  State  must  assume  complete  control  of  the  liquor 
traffic.  It  is  universally  admitted  to  be  the  cause  of 
much  widespread  misery,  not  only  to  those  who  over- 
indulge, but,  in  even  a  greater  degree,  to  many  innocent 


The  Ideal  State  307 

people  who  otherwise  would  lead  happy  and  profitable 
lives.  In  all  probability  the  State  would  find  total 
prohibition  a  necessary  procedure  at  this  imperfect 
stage  of  man's  ethical  evolution. 

The  white  slave  traffic  to  be  stringently  and  relent- 
lessly supervised  until  prostitution  is  abolished. 

All  women,  for  a  certain  number,  say  three  years, 
to  take  their  share  of  such  work  as  domestic  service  ; 
as  daughters  of  households  this  would  be  nothing  more 
than  their  simple  duty  ;  the  nursing  of  children  comes 
under  the  same  category.  All  men  similarly  to  take 
their  share  of  what  are  called  the  more  menial  occupa- 
tions, such  as  work  on  drains  and  other  trades  necessary 
to  the  accomplishment  of  a  perfect  sanitation.  It  is 
well  for  men  and  women  to  have  practical  knowledge 
of  every  department  of  work  and  method,  and  par- 
ticularly everything  pertaining  to  the  wise  conduct  of 
a  household.  This  could  not  but  be  beneficial  to  the 
individual  and  to  society. 

The  system  of  punishment  for  criminal  offences  to  be 
revised  and  altered.  The  soul  of  man  is  essentially 
"  good  "  ;  it  has  become  attracted  to  its  opposite 
through  the  force  of  a  bad  environment  upon  the  husk 
of  the  soul  —  the  "carnal  mesh"  —the  "muddy 
vesture  of  decay."  Therefore  we  must  effectually 
change  the  environment,  and  especially  in  prison, 
where  the  defaulter  should  only  be  detained  until,  with 
safety  to  himself  and  others,  he  can  be  restored  to  the 
society  of  his  fellows.  At  present  we  do  all  we  can  to 
make  him  the  enemy  of  society,  and  confirm  this  by 
our  attitude  when  he  returns  to  it.  We  must  endeavour 
to  remove  the  evils  of  his  previous  bad  environment, 
to  shed  the  spirit  of  love  into  his  soul,  and  reawaken 
the  true  self — the  Divine  element,  immanent  and  ever 
awaiting  the  light  from  the  Eternal  to  arouse  its 
dormant  energies.  Therefore,  in  future,  until  all  crime 


3o8 


The  Ideal  State 


has  disappeared  by  means  of  a  perfect  environment 
physically,  intellectually,  and  spiritually,  we  must  en- 
deavour to  conquer  the  misguided,  or  rather  ill-treated, 
member  of  society  who  has  transgressed  the  laws  of 
righteousness,  by  the  spirit  of  love.  We  must  prove 
to  him  that  society  desires  nothing  more  than  to  re- 
absorb  him,  to  take  him  to  her  large  heart,  and  do 
everything  to  make  his  lot  happy,  and  receive  his  help 
in  return.  He  ought  to  be  taught  useful  work,  given 
ample  leisure  for  physical  exercise  in  the  open  air, 
supplied  with  good  literature,  and  advised  from  the 
ethical  side  by  men  specially  trained  and  chosen  for 
such  work.  The  present  method  of  choosing  chaplains 
— without  special  qualification,  indiscriminately  from 
a  body  of  men  who  have  signed  the  "  nine-and-thirty 
articles  " — can  only  be  said  to  be  deplorable.  On 
leaving,  the  prisoner  must  be  met  and  receive  every 
care  from  people  specially  appointed ;  and  work  secured 
and  his  footsteps  guided  until  society  has  re-established 
faith  in  him. 

All  castes  and  orders  will  undergo  a  process  of 
gradual  elimination.  In  process  of  time  it  will  possess 
men's  minds  that  no  other  honour  is  necessary  than  the 
esteem  and  gratitude  of  their  neighbours,  conjoined  with 
the  consciousness  of  self-abnegation  and  of  good  work 
well  done — the  best  possible  attainment  for  the  in- 
dividual under  the  law  of  the  Eternal  and  in  accord 
with  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

We  are  entitled  to  look  for  the  gradual  disappearance 
of  the  Army  and  Navy.  These  remain  as  evidences  of 
a  still  semi-barbarous  phase  of  existence.  At  present, 
no  doubt,  they  are  necessities  of  our  continuance  as 
nations  and  great  powers.  With  a  higher  plane  of 
ethical  evolution,  however,  they  will  become  unthink- 
able and  intolerable  ;  all  disputes  of  every  kind  will  be 
settled  by  means  of  arbitration.  The  beginning  of  this 


The  Ideal  State  309 

"  method  of  reason  "  is  already  in  operation  at  the 
Hague,  and  will  increase  in  power  and  influence  as  we 
secure  the  gradual  attainment  of  the  poet's  dream — 
"  the  Parliament  of  Man — the  Federation  of  the 
World." 

Until  we  reach  the  stage  of  the  abolition  of  the  gold 
standard  we  must  secure  as  rapidly  as  possible  a  uni- 
versal minimum  wage  for  the  heads  of  all  households, 
men  and  women  alike,  so  that  no  one  in  the  land  shall 
be  without  every  necessary  comfort,  ample  leisure,  and 
the  means  of  culture,  in  return  for  work  done  in  any 
capacity  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

Every  household  must  have  sufficient  room  for  each 
unit,  so  that  an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  air  and  the 
means  of  privacy  and  decency  are  brought  within  the 
reach  of  everyone.  The  housing  must  be  on  thoroughly 
sanitary  lines,  with  ample  supplies  of  hot  and  cold 
water,  of  light  and  heating. 

Garden  cities  must  be  planned  for  all  congregations 
of  people  so  that  there  can  be  no  congestion  of  air,  or 
space,  or  other  conditions  tending  towards  insanitation 
or  disease. 

Preventive  medicine  must  eventually  become  the 
chief  thought  of  the  governmental  machine,  with  a 
Ministry  of  Medicine,  in  all  probability  held  by  the 
Prime  Minister  as  the  chief  officer  of  State.  A  State 
Medical  Service  will  be  a  vital  necessity,  and  will,  before 
long,  extinguish  the  absurd  methods  of  private  practice. 
At  the  present  moment  the  poor  are  not,  except  in 
hospitals,  efficiently  and  scientifically  attended.  Under 
the  present  system  it  is  impossible.  This  will  be 
totally  altered  under  a  State  Medical  Service.  The 
medical  man  will  benefit  materially.  At  present  he  is 
either  underwrought  and  underpaid,  or  he  is  over- 
wrought and — it  maybe — overpaid.  Very  often  he  is 
both  underpaid  and  overwrought.  It  is  unfortunately 


310  The  Ideal  State 

true  that  there  are  at  least  4000  medical  practitioners  in 
our  big  industrial  centres  who  never  know  what  it  is 
to  have  a  holiday  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  of  their 
professional  life  ;  who  are  compelled  to  work  at  ex- 
cessive pressure  all  their  waking  hours,  with  many 
inroads  on  what  ought  to  be  their  sleep,  for  a  bare 
pittance  of  £200  to  £250  a  year.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has 
at  any  rate  done  good  to  this  section  of  the  profession, 
in  that  he  has  brought  what  is  comparative  affluence 
within  their  reach.  Their  income  will  be  doubled,  and 
perhaps  trebled ;  they  will  be  able  to  work  less 
and  enjoy  a  little  leisure  ;  and  the  annual  holiday  will 
begin  to  illumine  their  imagination  and  bring  balm  to 
their  souls  and  health  to  their  bodies.  But  under  a 
perfected  State  Medical  Service  no  doctor  will  be  over- 
wrought :  he  will  not  work  into  decrepitude  and 
senility  ;  at  fifty-five  or  sixty  a  pension  will  enable  him 
to  rest  from  his  labours  and  devote  such  energies  as 
remain  to  advise  the  State  for  the  welfare  of  the  body 
politic. 

A  body  of  specially  selected  scientific  advisers  to  be 
formed,  and  consulted  by  the  Ministry,  when  required, 
and  to  be  final  in  its  decisions,  so  as  to  avoid  the 
possibility  of  too  sudden  change,  potential  of  great 
danger  to  the  continuity  of  the  State. 

It  is  most  unlikely  that  Britain  will  ever  be  called 
upon  to  face  Revolution.  Her  constitution  is  broad- 
based  upon  the  people's  will.  There  has  been  in  the 
past,  there  is  in  the  present,  and  there  will  continue  in 
the  future  a  gradation  of  concessions  to  the  demands 
and  needs  of  the  people  by  the  Government.  Indeed, 
we  may  now  say  it  is  truly  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people.  It  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  our  Government  will  ever  declare  war  from  no 
other  motive  than  political  exigency,  such  as  has  been 
done  by  other  European  powers  in  the  past  and  may 


The  Ideal  State  311 

be  used  by  others  in  the  future.  The  internal  dis- 
content of  Germany  is  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  Europe 
in  that  the  Kaiser  may  find  it  necessary  to  provoke 
hostilities  in  order  to  arouse  the  patriotic  fervour  of  his 
subjects,  and  thus  evade  revolution  temporarily,  with- 
drawing attention  from  their  own  misgovernment. 
For  it  is  to  misgovern  when  the  interests  of  the 
people  of  a  great  nation  are  sacrificed  to  military 
aggrandisement  and  power. 

The  influence  of  Christian  altruism,  under  the  law  of 
righteousness  of  the  Eternal,  is  evidenced  with  greater 
potency  in  our  own  country  than  in  any  other,  and  will 
insist  from  day  to  day  upon  the  progressive  betterment 
of  society,  which  alone  can  and  does  give  permanence 
to  our  civilisation.  In  the  words  of  Benjamin  Kidd, 
already  quoted,  "  Society  is  evolving  religious  char- 
acter as  a  first  product,  and  intellectual  capacity  only 
so  far  as  it  can  be  associated  with  this  quality,"  and 
the  most  distinctive  feature  of  human  evolution  as 
a  whole  is  that  through  the  operation  upon  men's 
minds  of  the  self-denying  ordinances  and  teachings 
of  Jesus  the  race  must  continue  to  grow  ever  more 
and  more  religious. 

A  scroll  of  heroes  to  be  displayed  in  all  our  schools, 
so  that  the  youth  may  know  the  men  who  in  the  past 
have  done  most  to  advance  the  State  in  all  lines  of 
noble  thought  and  enterprise.  The  teaching  of  all 
history  ought  to  cluster  round  such  names. 

The  legal  system  must  eventually  be  merged  in  the 
Civil  Service.  All  cases  presented  will  receive  con- 
sideration in  an  outer  Court  as  to  whether  they  are  un- 
deserving of  trial  on  account  of  such  faults  as  triviality 
or  mere  litigiousness.  The  latter  would  require  careful 
repression,  as  it  would  tend  towards  the  abuse  of  the 
legal  instrument.  One  judgment  to  be  final  in  all 
cases  ;  barristers  to  be  civil  servants,  paid  by  Govern- 


312  The  Ideal  State 


ment  as  the  judges  are  ;  to  receive  no  private  fees,  and 
promoted  according  to  their  knowledge,  ability,  and 
experience.1 

The  State  must  do  everything  to  foster  the  per- 
meation of  the  mind  of  the  child  with  the  ethics  of  the 
teachings  of  Jesus.  Under  our  present  system  the 
main  idea  inculcated  in  the  educative  system  is  "  Get 
on,  or  get  out,"  with  the  perpetuation  of  self-seeking 
and  its  attendant  evils  evident  everywhere,  and  not 
least  in  "  business,"  where  the  ruin  of  one's  neighbour 
is  quite  "fair  game"  as  long  as  we  ourselves  profit 
thereby — most  inconsistent  and  deplorable  in  a 
country  boasting  of  its  Christian  religion  and  govern- 
ment. 

It  is  not  intended  that  any  Church  shall  be  estab- 
lished, but  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  Ministers  of  State 
to  act  under  the  guidance  of  the  lesson  of  history  and 
see  that  the  child  is  thoroughly  instructed  in  this  par- 
ticular by  means  of  the  schoolmaster,  so  that  he  may 
come  to  realise  the  influence  of  these  teachings  in  the 
evolution  of  the  social  betterment  of  mankind  and  the 
amelioration  of  his  lot,  giving  assurance  of  peace  and 
joy  to  his  own  existence,  and  permanence  to  civilisa- 
tion, and  the  removal  of  all  risk  of  sudden  rupture 
with  the  tradition  of  the  past  as  a  result  of  social  dis- 
content in  the  form  of  Revolution,  which  interferes  for 
long  periods  with  the  process  of  human  advance. 

The  general  physique  must  be  maintained  by  every 
opportunity  of  exercises,  whether  gymnastic  or  in  the 
form  of  open-air  sport — these  to  be  wisely  directed  and 
scientifically  guided  so  as  to  get  the  best  results  for  the 
individual  and  to  secure  that  they  are  not  overdone, 
as  do  many  of  the  "idle  rich"  at  the  present  day. 
They  make  it  their  work,  which  is  as  bad  as  neglecting 
it  altogether. 

1  This  applies  only  to  immediate  reform. 


The  Ideal  State  313 

Every  opportunity  for  intellectual  advance  to  be 
accorded  to  all  by  means  of  a  constant  environment  of 
the  best  thoughts  of  the  best  minds  of  the  past  and  the 
present  in  the  form  of  access  to  literature  and  lectures 
on  every  kind  of  literary  and  scientific  lore.  By  this 
means  the  general  intelligence  and  culture  is  raised  and 
the  individual  is  enabled  to  make  more  of  his  abilities 
and  capacities,  and  in  this  way  serve  the  State  better. 
The  knowledge  of  the  best  thoughts  of  the  best 
minds  tends  ever  to  elevate  the  soul  of  man  and  help 
onwards  his  spiritual  evolution  ;  for  to  quote  again 
the  greatest  prophet  of  the  nineteenth  century — 
Thomas  Carlyle,  whom  may  we  all  bear  ever  in  most 
reverent  memory  :  "  All  intellect,  all  talent  is  in  the 
first  place  moral — what  a  world  were  this  otherwise  ; 
therefore  the  Good  alone  is  deathless  and  victorious." 
So  that  an  atmosphere  of  culture  serves  a  double  pur- 
pose— and  the  highest  of  all  purposes — in  helping  on 
the  ethical  evolution  in  process  among  men.  Like  all 
other  evolutionary  processes,  this  is  necessarily  of  slow 
growth.  Hence  the  need  by  every  possible  means  to 
augment  all  agencies  which  have  helped  or  can  help 
towards  the  Final  Goal. 

That  eminent  man,  Lord  Morley,  in  an  address 
delivered  at  Blackburn  recently,  quoted  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  to  the  effect  that  an  educated  man  was 
a  man  who  knew  the  difference  between  knowing  and 
not  knowing.  It  is  not  easy  to  discover  this  by  any 
means,  and  that  is  why  we  must  all  endeavour  not  only 
to  study  observed  phenomena,  but  we  must  learn  how 
to  study  and  weigh  the  conclusions  which  we  draw. 
Lord  Morley  went  on  to  extend  his  definition  of  the 
educated  man,  quoting  another  prelate  to  the  effect 
that  he  was  a  man  with  a  clear  view  of  some  purpose 
running  through  life,  with  which  he  identified  himself 
and  tried  to  co-operate.  An  educated  man,  among 


314  The  Ideal  State 

other  qualities,  knows  what  is  evidence  and  when  an 
assertion  is  proved  and  disproved  ;  and  he  added,  and 
this  is  very  important  and  gives  support  to  the  whole 
contention  and  argument  maintained  throughout  this 
treatise  :  "  The  educated  man  should  have  an  ardent 
care  for  the  well-being  of  his  own  species,  and  his  own 
countrymen  to  begin  with."  Therefore  it  is  that  we 
are  bound  to  conclude  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man, 
and  particularly  every  educated  man,  regardless  of  self, 
to  seek  after  the  attainment  of  a  perfect  environment 
not  only  for  his  fellow-men  but  in  the  interests  of  the 
unborn  generations  of  men  and  women  who  are  to 
succeed. 

"  See  !    In  the  sands  of  the  world 
Marches  the  host  of  mankind, 
A  feeble,  wavering  line. 
Where  are  they  tending  ?     A  God 
Marshalled  them,  gave  them  their  goal. 

"  Ye  fill  up  the  gaps  in  our  files, 
Strengthen  the  wavering  line. 
Stablish,  continue  our  march, 
On,  to  the  bound  of  the  waste, 
On,  to  the  City  of  God  !  " 


Chapter  X 
The   Final   Goal 

S  we  approach  the  end  of  our  thesis  we  must  en- 
deavour  to  sum  up  the  whole  argument  and  prove 
a  logical  sequence  onwards  to  our  conclusion.  As  long 
as  the  theory  of  Darwin  held  the  field,  it  was  evident 
that  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  higher  or  spiritual 
evolution  of  the  race  was  impossible.  His  theory 
rested  on  the  assumption  that  man,  like  the  units  of 
every  other  species,  was  in  a  state  of  constant  struggle 
with  the  other  members  for  the  means  of  subsistence. 
This  struggle  was  necessary  to  his  own  existence  and  to 
that  of  the  genus,  otherwise  the  units  would  cease  to 
continue  "fit,"  and  would  therefore  be  exterminated 
by  other  genera.  This  he  called  the  "  Law  of  Natural 
Selection."  As  Darwin  based  his  case  on  the  carnivora, 
we  have  taken  up  the  argument  from  observed  phe- 
nomena of  this  species  of  vertebrates,  and  have  given 
proof  of  the  law  of  the  cannibal  habit  in  the  male  which 
is  the  means  of  repression  of  all  excess  of  reproduction. 
The  method  by  which  this  was  controlled  was  acknow- 
ledged by  Darwin  to  remain  "  most  obscure."  There 
is  therefore  no  necessity  of  a  struggle  for  food,  and 
therefore  the  Law  of  Natural  Selection  goes  by 
default  and  is  proved  to  be  a  false  doctrine.  As  Darwin 
had  homologated  the  doctrine  of  Malthus,  which  he 
said  applied  with  manifold  force  to  the  whole  animal 
and  vegetable  kingdom,  it  was  necessary  to  demon- 
strate the  unsoundness  of  this  theory,  and  without 

315 


316 


The  Final  Goal 


difficulty  we  were  able  to  show  that  growth  or  decrease 
of  population  in  man  is  controlled  entirely  by  the  labour 
market.  An  increased  death-rate  will  temporarily 
affect  the  birth-rate  and  cause  it  to  rise  ;  emigration 
from  a  country  has  a  similar  effect.  But  there  is  no 
tendency  whatever  for  the  growth  of  population  to  out- 
run the  means  of  subsistence,  which  was  the  dread 
doctrine  preached  by  Malthus  and  caused  him  to  pro- 
claim that  only  by  means  of  war,  pestilence,  famine, 
vice,  and  misery  could  the  numbers  of  the  species  be 
kept  within  due  bounds.  This  we  absolutely  confuted ; 
and  it  is  fortunate  for  the  race  that  this  awful  doctrine 
has  been  destroyed,  otherwise  the  only  possible  fate  of 
man  was  one  of  despair  and  devoid  of  hope  or  cheer. 

The  destruction  of  these  false  doctrines  was  necessary 
if  man  were  to  retain  any  prospect  of  a  brighter  future. 
One  other  dread  doctrine  remained,  and  that  was  the 
"  dead  hand  "  of  heredity.  It  was  proved  that  by 
means  of  continuity  of  the  germ  plasm  man  inherited 
the  characteristics  peculiar  to  his  own  genus,  with 
occasional  physical  features — such  as  shape  of  nose, 
colour  of  eye  or  hair — which  might  resemble  those  of 
one  parent  or  grandparent.  But  the  fact  remained  that 
the  essential  man,  his  mental  and  moral  qualities,  even 
his  physical  powers,  depended  largely  upon  his  environ- 
ment. "  Sports  "  of  genius  or  remarkable  intellectual 
gifts  do  occur  from  time  to  time,  but  are  not  the  result 
of  heredity,  and  the  descendants  of  such  extraordinary 
individuals  return  at  once  to  the  average  under  the 
potent  influence  of  marriage.  It  was  demonstrated 
that  poor  physique,  undeveloped  mentality,  and  a  low 
morality  could  all  be  eliminated,  and  the  higher 
faculties  physically,  intellectually,  and  spiritually 
stimulated  and  developed  by  a  good,  sound  and  suitable 
environment.  Therefore  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  in 
every  regard  to  grant  to  each  individual,  and  especially 


The  Final  Goal  317 


to  the  child  from  its  earliest  years,  the  best  possible 
environment.  This  can  only  be  realised  by  slow  grada- 
tions; but  there  ought  to  be  no  cessation  of  effort 
until  the  full  complement  of  the  "ideal  state"  has 
been  obtained. 

It  was  proved  that  the  lesson  of  history  supports 
our  contention.  The  fact  of  social  betterment  at 
present  existing  and  in  process  is  an  entirely  new 
phenomenon  on  the  stage  of  the  world's  progress  and 
has  only  become  apparent  within  recent  times  in  this 
our  Western  civilisation.  Such  social  amelioration  was 
unknown  in  any  of  the  great  empires  of  the  past,  even 
although  high  physical  and  intellectual  evolution  had 
been  attained.  The  only  difference  existing  was  shown 
to  be  an  all-pervading  altruism,  first  demonstrated  by 
Benjamin  Kidd  in  his  work  "  Social  Evolution"  ;  and 
this  again  was  proved  to  have  its  origin  and  subsequent 
growth  in  the  teachings  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  under 
the  law  of  Righteousness  of  the  Eternal,  proclaimed  in 
the  New  Testament  by  the  Founder  of  our  religion. 
Man  was  shown  to  have  completed  his  physical  and 
mental  evolution.  This  means  that  higher  attainment 
in  these  directions  was  not  possible  for  him,  but  this 
does  not  preclude  a  very  considerable  rise  in  the  general 
standard  of  such  among  the  body  of  the  people.  But 
for  everyone  the  process  of  spiritual  evolution  is  not 
yet  by  any  means  on  a  high  plane.  It  began  with  the 
diffusion  in  men's  minds  of  Christian  altruism.  It  has 
been  operating  for  a  thousand  years  in  our  own  civilisa- 
tion and  it  has  yet  a  very  long  way  to  go ;  but  such  a 
process  acquires  momentum  as  it  proceeds,  and  ere  long 
will  be  a  much  greater  fact  in  the  world's  history  and  in 
man's  long  climb  upwards  on  the  ladder  of  being.  As 
this  spiritual  evolution  proceeds,  the  approach  of  the 
"  ideal  state  "  comes  nearer,  and  its  completion  within 
reach  of  attainment.  In  the  chapter  on  this  subject, 


3i8 


The  Final  Goal 


details  were  given  as  far  as  possible  of  all  the  objects 
to  be  sought  after,  and  the  most  important  of  these 
was  shown  to  be  the  abolition  of  the  gold  standard,  for 
the  reason  that  until  the  vice  of  acquisitiveness  and 
greed  has  been  overcome,  the  tyranny  and  persecution 
of  the  toiling  millions  must  continue  and  crime  of  many 
kinds  be  fostered  and  encouraged.  This  must  inevit- 
ably take  a  long  time,  and  indeed  seems  wellnigh 
impossible  at  present,  but  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly, 
and  the  progress  of  man's  spiritual  evolution  will  make 
all  things  possible  which  are  proved  to  be  necessary  to 
the  higher  progress  of  humanity.  This  explains  why 
the  idealists  at  the  present  time,  regardless  of  obloquy 
and  slander,  pursue  the  path  of  beneficent  legislation 
with  infinite  pains.  Humanity  in  its  heart  knows  this 
to  be  a  true  outcome  of  the  study  of  observed  phe- 
nomena, and  men  and  women  will  before  long  demon- 
strate their  belief,  and  as  they  progress  will  show  their 
willingness  to  act  always  in  the  spirit  of  "  sweet  reason- 
ableness," and  find  their  chief  happiness  in  taking 
trouble  to  do  good  to  others.  At  present  what  is  the 
world  of  commerce  but  a  wretched  scramble  in  the  effort 
to  "  down  "  one's  neighbour  with  the  aim  of  increasing 
one's  own  possessions?  "Great  possessions"  were 
shown  not  to  be  by  any  means  a  blessing,  but  a  curse 
in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  both  to  those  who  acquire 
them  and  to  those  who  succeed. 

It  was  shown  that  the  essential  nature  of  man  was 
good — is  only  and  can  only  be  content  with  the  good. 
We  have  already  quoted  from  Lord  Haldane's  book, 
"  The  Pathway  to  Reality,"  "  Man  has  a  double  nature 
out  of  which  arises  for  him,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
consciousness  of  separation  from  God  or  evil ;  on  the 
other,  potential  union  with  God  or  religion.  Though 
finite  spirit,  man  is  none  the  less  spirit,  consequently 
he  is  essentially  free  and  therefore  responsible."  If 


The  Final  Goal  319 

man  is  free  and  responsible,  his  plain  duty  is  to  seek 
truth  and  pursue  it,  so  that  he  may  learn  the  way 
of  righteousness  and  never  flag.  Carlyle  has  told 
us:  "  Love  not  pleasure;  love  God.  This  is  the  ever- 
lasting Yea,  wherein  whoso  walks  and  works,  it  is 
well  with  him."  And  why  so  ?  For  this  reason,  that 
the  finite  spirit  in  man  comes  from  the  Eternal,  who 
maketh  for  Righteousness.  It  is  the  Divine  Spirit 
immanent  in  man,  and  this  explains  why  the  self- 
sacrifice  and  love  inculcated  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
are  bringing  about  the  salvation  of  the  world.  They 
have  so  appealed  to  the  true  self — the  soul — the 
immanent  spirit  of  the  Divine  in  man — that  the  "  cloak 
of  self  "  is  discarded.  Man  has  ceased  to  be  "  Time's 
fool,"  and  become  one  with  Eternity.  This  is  the  ex- 
planation of  Kidd's  axiom  that  "  The  most  distinctive 
feature  of  human  evolution  as  a  whole  is  that  the  race 
must  continue  to  grow  ever  more  and  more  religious  ; 
religious  character  is  being  evolved  as  a  first  product, 
and  intellectual  capacity  only  in  so  far  as  it  can  be 
associated  with  this  quality."  We  endeavoured  to 
show  that  the  concept  of  the  Eternal,  the  Great  First 
Cause,  the  All-righteous,  All- wise,  Omnipotent  Designer 
and  Controller  of  the  Universe  was  a  necessity  of 
Thought  to  which  we  were  compelled  by  logical  pro- 
cess from  the  study  of  observed  phenomena.  Indeed, 
any  other  concept,  any  negation  of  the  idea  of  the 
Eternal  is  unthinkable.  The  purely  material  concept 
is  impossible  to  human  reason,  and  has  been  abandoned 
by  the  world  of  science  to-day.  We  say  this  notwith- 
standing Sir  Ray  Lankester  and  the  Mechanist  school, 
whose  theories  are  as  impossible  of  belief  and  as  want- 
ing in  continuity  of  method  or  demonstration  of  law  as 
any  fairy-tale  of  Jules  Verne.  In  the  last  century  no 
man  was  considered  deserving  of  scientific  reputation 
who  did  not  uphold  the  purely  materialistic  stand- 


320  The  Final  Goal 

point  and  the  agnostic  position.  That  was  the  age 
of  "  cocksureness,"  but  nevertheless  it  was  intellec- 
tually doomed,  and  the  ethical  evolution  at  work  in 
society  gave  it  the  finishing  stroke. 

With  the  advance  of  spiritual  evolution  has  come 
the  idea  of  the  Divine  Immanence.  This  means  that 
the  Eternal  has  given  to  every  individual  a  portion  of 
the  Divine  Spirit — the  soul  of  man — the  real  self — the 
true  self,  imprisoned  in  the  "  muddy  vesture  of  decay." 
The  greatest  intellect  of  this  world — he  who  "  was  not 
for  an  age,  but  for  all  time  " — recognised  the  God  in 
man,  too  much  concealed  or  altogether  hidden  by  the 
covering  of  the  flesh  ;  and  he  perceived  that  when  freed 
from  the  muddy  vesture  the  music  of  the  immortal  soul 
would  then  manifest  itself.  In  the  beautiful  words  of 
Scripture,  "  the  Spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave 
it." 

It  has  been  said  that  man  is  the  only  animal  who  goes 
through  life  conscious  of  his  death  sentence,  and  this  is 
very  true  if  there  is  no  Hereafter.  To  approach  death 
without  fear  we  must  have  absorbed  the  teachings  of 
the  Master,  and  realised  the  only  pathway  to  happiness 
and  peace  by  means  of  a  life  spent  unreservedly  in  the 
service  of  others.  This  is  the  true  self-realisation.  The 
spirit  or  soul  of  man,  free  and  responsible,  by  realising 
itself  has  come  into  harmony  with  the  Divine,  has 
become  one  with  God.  We  know  not  what  is  beyond, 
but  we  are  entitled  to  say  with  the  poet :  "On  earth 
the  broken  arc ;  in  heaven  the  perfect  round."  In 
God  we  find  the  "  Ultimate  Reality."  1  With  us  "  the 
Ideal  has  become  the  Real,"  and  the  spirit  returns  unto 
God  who  gave  it.  This,  without  doubt,  is  the  Final 
Goal. 

1  Haldane's  "  Pathway  to  Reality." 


Index 


Addams,  Miss  Jane,  291-2 

Agnosticism,  189 

Allan,  A.  J.,  291 

America,  257 

Anderson,  W.  C. ,  229 

Angell,  Norman,  144-5 

Anthropoids,  25 

Aristotle,  145 

Arnold,   Matthew,    18,    127,    181, 

225 

Art,  282-306 
Asquith,  H.  H.,  Prime  Minister, 

179-80,  214 
Astor,  Col.,  165 
Atkinson,  F.  M.,  271-7 
"Atlantic  Monthly,"  161 
Australia,  42 
Automaton  Theory,  203 


Balfour,  A.  J.,  43,  119,  123 

Balkan  States,  146 

Bannerman,  Sir  Henry  Camp- 
bell-, 263 

Barnardo,  Dr.,  107 

Bartlett,  38 

Bastian,  Dr.  Charlton,  199 

Beaubois,  272 

Beethoven,  123 

Begbie,  Harold,  258 

Belgium,  96 

Bellamy,  281 

Bentham,  215 

Bergson,  12,  67,  188,  192,  196, 
202,  204 

Bingham,  General,  291 

Bismarck,  143 

Blake,  William,  210 

Blatchford,  231 

Booth,  William,  263 

Booth,  General,  266-8 


Bottle-blowers  of  Italy,  273-7 
Browning,  Mrs.  Barrett,  198 
Bruce,  King  Robert,  the,  25 
Burns,  Robert,  in,  123 
Byron,  Lord,  in 

Caesar,  14 

Campbell,  Rev.  R.  J.,  201 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  in,   123,   151, 
1 80,  220-2,  233,  266,  296,  298, 

3i3»  3'9 

Carruth,  W.  Herbert,  148 
Catherine  of  Sienna,  123 
Cecil,  Lord  Hugh,  136-40 
Charlemagne,  14 
Child,  The,  264 
Christianity,    16,    133,    144,    147, 

154-60,  174,214 
Church,  The,  135-42 
"Church    Missionary    Review," 

161 

Churchill,  Winston,  161 
Corn  Laws,  153 
Consciousness,  207 
Conservatism,  137-9 
Crime,  104-8,  297-9,  3°7 

Daly,  139 

D'Arcy,  Bishop,  161 

Darwin,  11-14,  I^>  20-30,  31-42, 

43-68,  151,  315 
Descartes,  202 
Devine,  Dr.,  124 
Dewar  and  Finn,  29,  45,  48,  49- 

55.  57-61.  !°8,  in 
Dickens,  300 
Dieu,  1'hypothese,  155-7,  i6°i23i> 

272 

Dumont,  Ars&ne,  155-7 
Drama,  306 


321 


322 


Index 


Eimer,  20 

Elderton,  Miss,  126 
Elizabethan  Age,  in,  134,  221 
Elliot,  Hugh  S.  R.,  188,  193-6 
Emigration,  84 
England,  88 
Environment,  100-26 
Eugenics,  43,  99,  106,  306 

Fabre,  Henri,  62-8 

Faimali,  37 

"  Fallacies,  Origin  of,"  206 

Fleischmann,  Professor  Von,  20 

France,  98,  141-5 

Francis  d'  Assisi,  123 

Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  266 


Gairdner,  Sir  William,  105 

Galton,  23,  56,  in 

Garden  Cities,  309 

George,  Lloyd,  310 

Germany,  142-4 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  14,  246 

Godwin,  71 

Gold  standard,  277,  284-7,  295> 

306 

Gooden,  Miss,  241 
Greek  Civilisation,  128,  134,  221 


Haeckel,  188,  198 

Haldane,    Lord,    147,    296,    318, 

320 

Hall,  Dr.  Winslow,  146 
Hamlet,  126 
Harrison,  Frederic,  282 
Hartman,  Prof.  Von,  20 
Hegel,  296 
Heidelberg  man,  27 
Henslow,  Rev.  Prof.,  20 
Heredity,  100-26 
Hobart,  H.  W.,  253,  258-63 
Hobbes,  215-16 
Hogg,  123 
Hoocke,  20 
Horsley,  Canon,  165 
Hume,  215-16 

Huxley,  14,  25-6,  47,  189,  203 
Hyndman,  231 


Immanence,  Divine,  163,  266,  307, 

320 

Imprisonment,  300-2,  307 
India,  71 
Indian,  Red,  257 
Insanity,  103 
Instinct,  62,  201-2 
Insurance  Bill,  143,  213,  303,  310 
International  Relations,  287-8 
Ireland,  71 

Java  man,  27 

Jesus,  Teachings  of,  183-5,  27°~l 

Jonson,  Ben,  221 

Jowett,  Dr.,  206 

Kaffir,  The,  289 

Kant,  Immanuel,  123 

Keats,  in,  123 

Keith,  Professor  Arthur,  25,  27 

Kidd,  Benjamin,  15,  128,  130,  155, 

173,  210,  217-23,  237,  317 
Konig,  Dr.,  104 
Kropotkin,  Prince,  124 

Labour,  134,  158-9,  167,  177,  212, 

228,  245 
Lamarck,  19 

Lankester,  Sir  Ray,  188,  193,  319 
Legal  system,  248,  311 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  123 
Lister,  Lord,  13,  199 
Livingstone,  266 
Lloyd,  Miss,  104,  107 
Lloyd,  Prof.  Morgan,  56 
Locke,  215-16 
London,  Bishop  of,  112 
Lunacy,  242 
Luther,  123 
Luxury,  285 

Macaulay,  Lord,  75 

Macdonell,  Sir  John,  112 

Machen,  Arthur,  165,  170-7 

Macpherson,  Hector,  125 

Maine,  Sir  Henry,  127 

Mallock,  278 

Malthus,  11,  67-100,  151-3,  315 

Marshall,  Prof.,  175 

Marx,  Karl,  155-7,  220,  231,  278 


Index 


323 


Medicine,  Ministry  of,  246,  309 
Melrose,  Abbey  of,  164 
Memory,  205 
Meredith,  Mrs.,  104,  107 
Michelangelo,  123 
Mill,  J.  S.,  215-16,  278 
Minimum  wage,  179 
Missionary,  The,  288 
Mivart,  Dr.  St.  George,  29 
Mongols,  26 
Morley,  Lord,  313 
Motts,  Dr.,  242 
Mozart,  123 
Music,  306 

Napoleon,  14,  123 

Natural  Selection,  14,  19,  43-68, 

151-2,  222,  315 
Navy,  The,  167 
Negritos,  26 
Negro,  26,  288 
Netherlands,  94 
Newtown,  Sir  Isaac,  124 
Nietzsche,  154,  160-220 
Nightingale,  Florence,  123 
Norway,  89 

Old  age  pensions,  187 
Owen,  Sir  Richard,  29 

Palace  of  Peace,  153 

Parliament,  286 

Pasteur,  12,  197,  199 

Paulin,  George,  8,  n,  20,  34-42, 

47-48,  54,  61-70,  96,  195 
Pearson,  Prof.  Karl,  126 
Peerage,  in 
Phidias,  14 
Pitt,  76 
Plato,  14,  220 
Pleistocene,  28 
For,  Odon,  271-7 
Portugal,  140 
Poverty,  265 
Protista,  200 
Prussia,  92 

Ragazzoni,  Prof.,  28 
Ravaisson,  205 


Reformation,  130,  142,  193 
Reinicke,  20 
Renaissance,  173 
Revolution,  143,  214,  312 
Revolution,  French,  211,  215 
Robertson,  J.  M. ,  144-5 
Roman  Empire,  128-9,  '45 
Romanes,  55 
Roosevelt,  112 
Rosebery,  Lord,  13 
Rowntree,  263 
Ruskin,  182,  220 
Russia,  86 

Salvation  Army,  129-31 

Schafer,  Prof.,  67,  198-201 

Schofield,  Dr.,  104,  113 

Scotland,  88 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  222 

Seaman,  Owen,  107,  268 

Sergi,  Prof.,  28 

Seth,  39 

Shakespeare,  in,  123,  126,   129, 

163,  221-2,  270 
Shaw,  J.  D.  ,"Tasmanian  News," 

Editor  of,  105 
Shelley,  123 
Slavery,  129-31 
Smith,  Capt.,  165 
Smith,  Prof.,  122 
Socialism,  169,  210-314 
Socrates,  14,  220 
Sophocles,  14,  220 
Spain,  140 
Spencer,  Herbert,  104,  124,  215- 

16 

State  Medical  Service,  309 
State  religion,  136-42,  312 
Stdad,  W.  T.,  165,  232-6,  292 
Straus,  Isidore,  165 
Syndicalism,  228,  271-8,  286 
Sweden,  89 

Tasmania,  105 

Tennyson,  18,  in,  150,  225,  244, 

256 

Testament,  New,  126 
Time,  264 
"Times,  The,"  267 
Turkey,  144-6 


Index 


Ultimate  Reality,  320 
United  States  of  America,  142 
Universities,  282 
Urwick,  Prof.,  149 
Utilitarian  school,  215 
Utopia,  New,  279 

Verne,  Jules,  319 
Vries,  De,  20 

Wagenen,  Von,  122 

Wagner,  123 

Wallace,  Dr.  Alf.  Russel,  50,  201 

Ward,  Mrs.  Humphry,  239-41 

War,  144 


Weismann,  123 
Wellington,  14 
Wells,  H.  J.,  167-70 
Wellstein,  Von,  20 
Western  civilisation,  186 
"Westminster  Review,"  47 
"  Westminster  Gazette,"  137-8 
Wolf,  Gustav,  20 
Won't-works,  301 
Wordsworth,  in,  208 
Working-classes,  258-65 
Wright  (American  author),  25 
Wright,  Sir  Almroth,  118,  243 

York,  Archbishop  of,  313 


THE   END 


A     000  051  504     9 


